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At  a  GOUNCiL  held  at  "Bojlon 
Septemh.  8*  i6jo. 


|Hc  Council  taking  into  their  ferious  Confideration 
the  low  eftate  of  the  Churches  of  God  throughout 
ihc  World  >  and  the  increafc  of  Sin  and  Evil 
amongft  our  fclvc^^  Gods  hand  following  us  fon 
the  fame  5  Do  thcrcibrc  Ap^oiiu  the  Twtr-oid  cvvcmfttitw 
this  inftant  Sepembtr  to  be  a  Day  of  Publick  Huoiiliadon 
throughout  this  Jurifdidion,  and  do  coKimend  the  fame  to 
the  fc vera!  Churches,  Eldcrj,  Minifters  and  People,  folemnly 
to  keep  it  accordingly :  Her:by  prohibiting  all  Servile  work 
on  that  day. 


Bv  the  Council^ 


fd^E^on  Secret..  4 


THE 


FAST  AND  THANKSGIVING  DAYS 


OF 


NEW  ENGLAND 


BY 


W.  DeLOSS  love,  Jr.,  Ph.  D. 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND   COMPANY 

1895 


Copyright,  1895, 
By  W.  DeLOSS  LOVE,  Jb. 

All  rights  reserved, 
7f  3  3  «^ 


The  Riverside  PresSy  Cambridge^  Mass.^  U.  S.  A. 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  H.  O.  Houghton  and  Company. 


TO 

MY  FATHER 

WBOSB  XJTB  HAS  KXXMPUFISD  THB  YIBTUS  OP 

HONK8T  HUMIIJTT 

AND 

MY  MOTHER 

WHOSE  OHKERFUL  PIXTY  HAS  BESN  A  80NO  OP 

THAKKSGIYIIVO 

THIS   VOLUME    IS    INSCRIBED 

WITH  PIUAL  APPBCriON 


PREFACE. 

Reader,  this  book  aims  to  place  before  you  the 
historical  facts  relating  to  the  Fast  and  Thanksgiving 
days  which  the  Fathers  of  New  England  have  trans- 
mitted to  their  children.  You  will  see  how  religiously 
they  esteemed  these  institutions,  and  how  rigorously 
they  observed  them,  but  it  has  not  been  our  purpose 
to  plead  for  their  restoration.  We  have  rather 
sought  to  exhibit  the  pious  purpose,  persevering 
courage,  and  honest  faith  of  those  good  men,  —  which 
surely  are  as  worthy  of  regard  as  their  oaken  chests, 
spinning-wheels,  and  warming-pans,  —  and  to  show 
how  these  days,  though  changed  in  outward  form, 
may  still  survive,  —  the  Fast  through  the  reverence 
of  the  churches,  and  the  Thanksgiving  through  the 
fellowship  of  the  family  circle.  Thus,  though  the 
days  of  old  seem  like  antique  shapes,  we  may  have  the 
life,  and  in  this  we  shall  best  honor  the  Puritan  fore- 
fathers. 

Herein  you  will  find  set  forth  the  conditions  lead- 
ing to  the  adoption  of  the  Fast  and  Thanksgiving 
system  in  New  England,  in  place  of  the  holy  days  of 
the  Church  of  England,  the  circumstances  under 
which  it  was  developed,  and  the  reasons  for  its  de- 


vi  PREFACE, 

cline.  It  is  also  seen  in  operation  and  is  illustrated 
in  successive  chapters,  which  tell  the  story  of  promi- 
nent periods,  the  days  being  thus  found  in  their 
proper  historical  setting.  Many  appointments  could 
not  be  particularly  mentioned  in  the  text,  but  the 
student  is  furnished  with  the  data  relating  thereto  in 
the  Calendar  and  the  Bibliography,  without  which  the 
volume  would  be  incomplete,  and  he  may  pursue  the 
study  at  his  pleasure.  It  has  seemed  hardly  worth 
while  to  continue  this  record  later  than  the  year  1815, 
since  the  dates  have  generally  followed  the  established 
custom  in  each  State,  and  the  sermons  printed  have 
had  so  little  reference  to  the  days.  Still,  the  practice 
itself  is  traced  down  to  the  present  time,  —  the  history 
of  the  Thanksgiving  Day  closing  with  its  adoption  by 
the  nation,  and  that  of  the  Fast  Day  with  what  seems 
to  us  a  fair  statement  of  the  problem  as  yet  imsolved 
in  several  States. 

The  application  of  the  inductive  method  to  histori- 
cal studies,  while  it  is  scientific,  has  some  disadvan- 
tages. In  this  instance  it  has  demanded  an  exhaustive 
search  to  recover  all  the  days  observed ;  and  though 
no  pains  have  been  spared  in  this  work,  doubtless 
others  will  be  added  to  the  list.  The  antiquary  can 
now  tell  at  once  whether  or  not  a  date,  which  he  may 
find  in  some  bit  of  manuscript,  is  recorded  elsewhere. 
It  is  not  probable,  however,  that  any  additions  will 
modify  the  conclusions  arrived  at  as  to  the  origin  of 
annual  appointments,  —  a  subject  which  coidd  only 
be  thoroughly  treated  by  the  inductive  method. 


PREFACE.  vu 

We  acknowledge  with  gratitude  the  courtesy  which 
has  permitted  the  necessary  search  in  the  Libraries 
consulted.  They  are  enumerated  in  connection  with 
their  collections  of  broadside  proclamations  and 
printed  Fast  and  Thanksgiving  sermons,  many  of 
which  are  exceedingly  rare.  The  uniform  kindness 
of  their  Librarians  has  made  the  work  a  pleasant  task 
to  the  author,  and  we  venture  to  hope  the  result  may 
be  of  some  assistance  to  them.  To  Hon.  J.  Ham- 
mond Triunbull,  LL.  D.,  we  are  indebted  for  his 
notes  on  the  "  Wolcott  Note-book,"  and  to  Hon. 
Charles  J.  Hoadly,  LL.  D.,  for  the  use  of  his  col- 
lection of  proclamations  and  other  assistance.  Ac- 
knowledgment is  made  for  data  furnished  from  im- 
printed manuscripts.  The  work  would  never  have 
been  attempted  except  for  an  interest  kindled  by  the 
resources  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society ;  it 
could  not  have  been  accomplished  without  the  use  of 
many  treasures  in  the  possession  of  the  American 
Antiquarian  Society  and  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society.  To  these  our  thanks  are  rendered,  and  es- 
pecially to  Hon.  Samuel  A.  Green,  M.  D.,  the  Li- 
brarian of  the  latter,  whose  personal  interest  has  urged 
to  completion  this  study,  which  has  engaged  vacation 
hours  and  odd  moments. 

W.  D.  L. 

Hartford,  Conn.,  September  18, 1894. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   I. 

PAOB 

THE   HOLY   SEASONS   OF   THE   CHURCH. 

Christianizing  Heathen  Festivals  in  England.  —  The  Multitude  of 
Holy  Days.  —  Equality  of  the  Sabbath  and  Saints'  Days.  —  Re- 
view of  Early  Laws.  —  The  Burden  put  upon  Labor.  —  Dese- 
cration of  the  Lord's  Day.  —  The  "Book  of  Sports."  —  " May 
Games ' '  allowed  on  ajl  Holy  Days.  —  Reformation  demanded. 

—  Irreligious  Keeping  of  Christmas  Day 11 

CHAPTER  n. 

THE    FEASTS  OF  CHRIST. 

The  Early  Puritans  willing  to  retain  Christmas,  Good  Friday, 
and  Easter  in  the  Calendar.  —  Refugees  at  Zurich.  —  An  At- 
tempt to  abolish  Saints'  Days.  —  Its  Failure  in  the  Convocation 
of  1562.  —  Origin  of  the  Proposal  to  keep  the  "Feasts  of 
Christ."  —  Zurich  and  Geneva.  —  The  Second  Helvetic  Confes- 
sion. —  Views  of  English  Bishops  opposed  by  Queen  Elizabeth. 

—  Pressure  for  Conformity.  —  Field  and  Wilcocks  —  their  "  Ad- 
monition to  the  Parliament."  —  Thomas  Cartwright.  —  Genevan 
System  adopted  by  the  Non-conformists 28 

CHAPTER  III. 

FAST   AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS   IN   ENGLAND. 

The  Puritans  influenced  by  the  Bible.  —  Their  Doctrine  of 
Divine  Providence.  —  Statement  of  their  Position.  —  Special 
Days  early  appointed  in  England.  —  Guy  Fawkes's  Day.  —  Prac- 
tice under  the  Commonwealth.  —  The  Westminster  Directory 
for  Public  Worship  on  the  Manner  of  Observance.  —  Reaction 
inEngland.  — The  Twenty-ninth  of  May,  1660 40 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   FASTS   OF  THE  EXILES. 

1595-1620. 

Separatist  Churches.  —  Robert  Browne's  Belief  and  Practice.  — 
Reformed  Churches  in  Holland.  —  Henry  Ainsworth  and  his 


5  CONTENTS. 

Flock  at  Amsterdam.  —  John  Smyth.  —  The  Scottish  Church  at 
Eotterdam.  —  Hugh  Peter.  —  Thomas  Hooker's  Declaration  as 
to  "  Holy  Days  and  Fast  Days."  —  General  Agreement  in  keep- 
ing Occasional  Days.  —  John  Robinson  —  his  Church  observe 
Fasts  at  Ley  den.  —  A  Farewell  Feast  at  the  close  of  a  Fast 
Day.  —  Similarity  to  the  Dutch  Custom.  —  A  Family  Gathering 
of  the  Pilgrims 54 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE   HARVEST   FESTIVAL  AT    PLYMOUTH. 
1621. 

Influence  of  a  New  Environment.  —  The  Forefathers  give  thanks 
to  God.  —  An  Anxious  Seed-Sowing.  —  New  England's  Wed- 
ding Feast. — Winslow's  Account.  —  A  Harvest  Festival  and 
not  a  Puritan  Thanksgiving.  —  Significance  of  the  Occasion.  — 
The  "  Bill  of  Fare."  — Supposed  Relation  to  the  "  Feast  of  In- 
gathering."—  The  Harvest  Home  of  England.  —  An  Inspira- 
tion of  the  Pilgrims 68 

CHAPTER  VI. 

SHOWERS   OF   BLESSING. 
1623. 

The  Thanksgiving  Service  of  the  Church  of  England  different 
from  the  Thanksgiving  Day.  —  The  Puritan  System  in  Opera- 
tion. —  Misfortunes  at  Plymouth  in  1622.  —  A  Hopeful  Plant- 
ing. —  Six  Weeks  of  Drought.  —  The  Governor  appoints  a  Fast 
Day.  —  The  Englishman's  God  sends  Gentle  Showers.  —  A 
Public  Thanksgiving.  —  Dates  of  these  Occasions  determined. 

—  Subsequent  Customs  in  the  Plymouth  Colony 78 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   SEA-FASTS   OF  TWO  VOYAGES. 

1629-1630. 

Various  Shades  of  Non-conformity.  —  A  Preference  for  Certain 
Days  of  the  Week.  —  Higginson's  Voyage.  —  Fasts  at  Salem.  — 
Fellowship  of  Plymouth.  —  The  Days  Winthrop  kept  at  Sea. 

—  A  Thanksgiving  in  all  the  Plantations.  —  The  Institution 
established 91 


CONTENTS.  3 

CHAPTER  Vin. 

THE  0BDEBIN6S  OF  DIVINE   PROVIDENCB  IN  THE  BAY  COLONY. 

1631-1635. 

Simple  Fare  of  the  Fathers.  —  Threatened  with  Starvation. — 
Winthrop's  Foresight  and  the  Relief  Ship.  —  Subsequent  Mis- 
fortunes. —  A  Drought.  —  A  Welcome  to  Margaret  Winthrop. 

—  Praying  for  Ministers.  —  Days  observed  on  account  of  Af- 
fairs in  Europe 102 

CHAPTER  IX. 

A  FAST    SERMON   IN   COURT. 

1635-1640. 

Deference  paid  to  "Men  of  Quality."  —  Social  Conditions.  —  Ar- 
rival of  Henry  Vane.  —  John  Cotton  and  Ann  Hutchinson.  — A 
Fast  Day  to  further  Peace.  —  The  Offensive  Sermon.  —  Wheel- 
wright is  banished.  —  Cotton  has  a  Day  of  Humiliation,  and 
a  Snowstorm  arises.  —  A  Lesson  in  the  Virtue  of  Demo- 
cracy  114 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE  BIVER  PLANTATIONS. 

1635-1640. 

A  Providence  at  Windsor.  —  Early  Hardships.  —  Religious  As- 
pects of  the  Pequot  War.  —  Commemoration  of  the  Victory.  — 
First  Thanksgiving  Day  of  Connecticut  —  October  12,  1637. — 
A  Fast  at  Windsor  and  its  Story.  —  John  Warham's  Sermon. 

—  October  Thanksgivings  of  1638.  —  Thomas  Hooker's  Dis- 
course.—  Humiliation  "for  England  and  the  Sickness  in  the 
Bay."  —  The  Great  Flood  and  its  Warning.  —  A  Thanksgiving 
Appointed  by  the  General  Court.  —  Connecticut's  First  Harvest 
Festival 129 

CHAPTER  XI. 

TEARS  FOR  OLD  ENGLAND. 
1640-1660. 

Commotions  in  England.  —  A  Summer  Fast  Day.  —  William 
Hooke's  Sermon.  —  Attitude  of  New  England.  —  The  Date  of 
Hooke's  Second  Sermon  shown  to  have  been  April  14,  1642.  — 


CONTENTS. 

\ 
Allies  in  the  "  BatteU  of  Antichrist."  —  Subsequent  Fastings. 
—  A  Notable  Thanksgiving  in  behalf  of  England.  —  Tempting 
Providence.  —  "  The    Christian     Commonwealth."  —  Making 
Ready  for  the  Restoration 147 


CHAPTER  XII. 

DUTCH  CUSTOMS   IN  NEW   NETHERLAND. 

1643-1664. 

The  Dutch  observed  Fast  and  Thanksgiving  Days.  —  Their  Holy 
Seasons.  —  First  Congregation  at  New  Amsterdam.  —  William 
Kieft  and  his  Humiliation. —  A  Thanksgiving  for  Peace. — 
Features  of  the  Observance.  —  "  Fasting,  Prayer,  and  Thanks- 
giving Days."  —  Later  Occasions.  —  A  Study  in  1653.  —  An 
Annual  Thanksgiving  proposed.  —  Influence  of  these  Practices 
in  the  Adoption  of  the  National  Thanksgiving 162 

CHAPTER  Xm. 

PESTS,    PLAGUES,    AND  PRODIGIES. 

1640-1670. 

Supposed  Degeneracy  of  New  England  and  Consequent  Calami- 
ties. —  Droughts.  —  Blasting  of  Crops.  —  Visitations  of  Cater- 
pillars. —  Locusts.  —  The  Hand  of  God  in  Sicknesses.  — 
Prodigies  portend  Evil.  —  Meaning  attached  to  the  Appear- 
ance of  Comets.  —  Samuel  Danforth's  "Astronomical  Descrip- 
tion "  —  A  Fast-Day  Sermon.  —  "  God's  Controversy  with  New 
England  " 177 

CHAPTER  XrV. 

Jacob's  trouble  in  the  wilderness. 

1675-1676. 

November  Thanksgivings  after  Dark  Days.  —  Outbreak  of  King 
Philip's  War.  —  The  People  humble  themselves.  —  Ominous 
Signs.  —  Fastings  fail  to  wdn  Divine  Favor.  —  Massachusetts 
omits  the  Thanksgiving  Day.  —  The  Tide  turns.  —  An  Early 
Thanksgiving  Broadside.  —  Joseph  Rowlandson  keeps  the 
Day  —  a  Family  Incident.  —  Connecticut's  Course  of  Thanks- 
givings.—The  17th  of  August,  1676,  at  Plymouth  — did  it 
commemorate  King  Philip's  Death  ?  —  Arrival  of  the  "  Levia- 
than's Head  "  at  the  Close  of  the  Religious  Service 192 


CONTENTS.  6 

CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  REFORMATION  FASTS. 

1675-1680. 

A  Backslidden  Israel.  —  Increase  Mather  and  the  Reformation 
Laws.  —  James  Fitch  follows  the  Early  Practice  at  Hartford. 

—  "  Renewal  of  Covenant "  adopted  by  Mather.  —  Part  taken 
by  Children  in  the  Exercises.  —  Mather's  Earnest  Exhortation. 

—  Covenanting    Fasts.  —  The  **  Reforming    Synod  "   sustains 
Mather^s  View.  —  His    Proclamation.  —  Covenants   employed. 

—  Results  of  the  Movement 205 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

THK  CONFLICrr  OF  AUTHORITIES. 

1684-1692. 

Anthority  for  Appointments  primarily  vested  in  the  Churches.  — 
Ministers  write  the  Proclamations.  —  Gradual  Transfer  of  Au- 
thority to  the  State.  —  A  Troublesome  Question  —  who  shall 
order  a  Thanksgpiving  ?  —  It  becomes  a  Party  Issue.  —  Revival 
of  Interest  in  English  Holidays.  —  Andros  censures  the  Minis- 
ters for  assuming  Autliority.  —  Increase  Mather  remembers  it. 

—  Andros  makes   Obnoxious   Appointments.  —  Old  Customs 
restored 221 

CHAPTER  XVIL 

THE  ANNUAL  8PRINQ    FAST  AND  THE  AUTUMN  THANKSOIVINO. 

1620-1694. 

Presumption  against  the  Annual  System.  —  Erroneous  Opinions. 

*-  —  When  did  the  Thanksgiving  Day  become  Annual  ?  —  Eccle- 
siastical and  Civil  Authority  in  Plymouth  Colony.  —  Annual 
Appointments  developed  in  Connecticut.  —  Massachusetts.  — 
When  did  the  Fast  Day  become  Annual  ?  —  Practice  in 
Plymouth  Colony.  —  Elarly  Adoption  in  Connecticut.  —  Massa- 
chusetts prefers  Occasional  Fasts.  —  Her  Spring  Fast  Annual 
since  1694.  — Old  and  New  System 239 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  WITCHCRAFT  FASTS. 

1692-1696. 

Private  Fasts  at  Salem  kindle  Fanaticism.  —  The  Preaching  of 
Samuel  Parris.  —  A  General  Fast  at  a  Critical  Time.  —  Atti- 


;  CONTENTS. 

tude  of  the  Ministers.  —  Cotton  Mather's  Sermon.  —  He  relies 
on  Fasting  and  Prayer.  —  A  Convocation  of  Ministers  to  check 
the  Prosecutions.  —  Effect  of  the  Bill.  —  Cotton  Mather's  Re- 
jected Proclamation.  —  Samuel  Sewall's  Confession 256 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  JUDGMENTS  AND  MERCIES   OF   INDIAN  WARFARE. 

1688-1713. 

Prayers  for  Soldiers  gone  forth  to  War.  —  Several  Expeditions. 

—  Captain  Church's  Successes  are  greeted  with  Humiliation. 

—  Attacks  upon  the  Frontier  Settlements.  —  Appointments  in 
New  Hampshire.  —  Assault  on  Deerfield.  —  "  Clouds  return 
after  the  Rain."  —  A  Court  Fast.  —  111  News  and  a  Rain- 
bow.—  "Hammering  out"  a  Proclamation  on  account  of 
Peace 270 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE   TERROR   OF  THE   LORD. 

1727-1755. 

The  Divine  Voice  in  Earthquakes.  —  Surprise  of  a  Sabbath 
Night.  —  Startling  Effects.  —  A  Call  to  Prayer  in  Boston.  — 
Cotton  Mather's  Warning  to  a  Terrified  Audience.  —  Lecture 
Fasts.  —  Religious  Impressions  produced.  —  Earthquake  of 
1755.  —  Changed  Conditions.  —  The  Excitement  soon  subsides. 

—  A,Scientific  Explanation 285 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE   CONQUEST   OF   CANADA. 

1744-1749.     1755-1760. 

Reinforcements  and  Humiliations. —  Expedition  against  Louis- 
burg.  —  Earnestness  in  Prayer.  —  Rejoicing  over  a  Victory.  — 
Historical  Sermons  preached.  —  War  against  the  Eastern  In- 
dians.—  Thanksgiving  for  the  Pretender's  Defeat.  —  "Salva- 
tions of  God  in  1746."  —  The  Hostile  Fleet  scattered.  — 
Campaigns  of  1755.  —  All  the  Colonies  keep  Fasts.  —  Thanks- 
givings for  the  Reduction  of  Cape  Breton  and  the  FaU  of 
Quebec.  —  Religious  View  of  the  War 299 


CONTENTS.  T 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

SPELLS   OF   WEATHER. 

1717-1749. 

Predictions  of  the  Almanac.  —  Has  the  Climate  of  New  Eng- 
land moderated  ?  —  The  Blizzard  of  1717  and  its  Consequences. 
—  Churches  turn  to  Fasting  and  Prayer.  —  Homiletic  Use  of 
the  Storm  by  Eliphalet  Adams.  —  The  Extreme  Drought  of 
1749.  —  Manuscript  Fast  Sermon  by  Thomas  Prince.  —  His 
Thanksgiving  Sermon.  —  Prevailing  View  of  Divine  Chastise- 
ments      •  314 


CHAPTER  XXm. 

THE  AMEBICAN  REVOLUTION. 

1765-1783. 

"Civil  and  Religious  Liberties."  —  The  Stamp  Act.  —  Feeling 
among  the  Ministers.  —  Thanksgivingfs  for  the  Repeal.  —  Loy- 
alist Proclamations  in  Massachusetts.  —  The  Boston  Port  Bill. 
—  Governor  Gage  refuses  to  order  a  Fast  and  the  Ministers  set 
a  Day.  —  Patriotic  Preachers.  —  Connecticut  Fasts  on  the  IDth 
of  April,  1775.  —  Appointments  by  the  Continental  Congress.  — 
Eleazar  Wheelock  keeps  the  Wrong  Day.  —  Subsequent  Days 
observed.  —  The  First  Continental  Thanksgiving.  —  After 
Many  Days  a  Thanksgiving  for  Peace 328 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  GOOD  FRIDAY   FAST   IN  CONNECTICUT. 

1795-1797. 

Liberal  Sentiment  in  Connecticut.  —  Good  Friday  Fasts  in  New 
Hampshire.  —  Attitude  of  Episcopalians.  —  Washington  sets  a 
Thanksgiving  in  Lent.  —  Disregard  for  the  Day  in  New  Lon- 
don.—  "The  Churchman's  Apology"  by  Bishop  Seabury. — 
He  objects  to  Fasts  in  Easter  Week.  —  The  Difficulties  ex- 
plained in  a  Reply.  —  Governor  Huntington  sets  the  Fast  on 
Good  Friday  in  1795.  —  A  Protracted  Controversy.  —  Governor 
Wolcott's  Appointments.  —  The  Good  Friday  Fast  established 
in  1797 347 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  POLITICAL  FAST   IN  MASSACHUSETTS. 

1789-1799. 

Religious,  Historical,  and  Political  Fast  Days.  —  Position  and  In- 
fluence of  the  Clergy.  —  They  are  drawn  into  Politics.  — 
Samuel  Adams's  Proclamation  omits  Mention  of  the  Federal 
Government.  —  David  Osgood's  Sermon.  —  Federalist  Ministers 
in  Massachusetts.  —  Reply  to  Osgood.  —  Political  Sermons  of 
February  19,  1795.  —  Misfortunes  of  a  Democrat.  —  Sermons  ' 
as  Campaign  Documents.  —  Jedidiah  Morse  arraigns  the  II- 
luminati.  —  Ministers  denounced.  —  The  sjequel 362 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE   PROCLAMATIONS   OF  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

1811-1815. 

Practices  in  the  New  England  States.  —  Character  of  Proclama- 
tions. —  Governor  Gerry's  Partisan  Paragraph.  —  He  is  cen- 
sured by  Rev.  Elijah  Parish.  —  The  Governor  replies.  —  Po- 
litical Preachers  stigmatized  in  a  Proclamation.  —  Election 
Day.  —  The  Federalists  have  an  Opportunity.  —  Governor 
Strong's  Proclamations  condemned.  —  National  Appointments 
on  Account  of  the  War 379 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE   NATIONAL   THANKSGIVING  DAY. 

Extent  of  the  Observance  in  the  United  States.  —  A  Cherokee 
Proclamation.  —  Early  Acceptance  of  the  Institution  by  the 
Indians.  —  Forces  making  for  its  National  Adoption.  —  The 
Principle  of  Union.  —  Influence  of  Appointments  by  the  Conti- 
nental Congress.  —  First  National  Thanksgiving  Day  December 
18,  1777.  —  Congress  discusses  the  Subject  in  1789.  —  Early 
Presidential  Appointments.  —  The  Civil  War.  —  An  Annual 
Harvest  Festival  since  1863 395 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

LAWS   AND   CUSTOMS. 

Fast  and  Thanksgiving  Days  regarded  as  Sabbaths  by  the 
Fathers.  —  Early  Laws  and  Subsequent  Modifications.  —  Cus- 


CONTENTS.  9 

toms  pertaining  to  Fast  Day.  —  The  Harvest  Festival  devel- 
oped by  Home  Life.  —  Growth  of  the  Feast.  —  An  Ideal  New         ^ 
England  Thanksgiving 410 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THE   PRINTER  AND   THE   PROCLAMATION. 

Rarity  of  Broadsides.  —  Transmission  of  the  Written  Order. — 
Printing  becomes  Necessary.  —  First  Printed  Proclamation  of 
Connecticut  in  1709.  —  Early  Massachusetts  Broadsides.  — 
Their  Appearance.  —  The  Seal.  —  Provincial  Broadsides.  — 
Proclamations  during  the  American  Revolution.  —  Present 
Style  in  Massachusetts  dates  from  1784. — Many  Printers  in 
Connecticut.  —  Press  of  William  Bradford.  —  Early  Broad- 
sides in  Other  New  England  States 430 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE   RETURN   TO   THE   CHRISTIAN  YEAR. 

Fast  Day  abolished  in  Massachusetts.  —  Patriots'  Day.  —  How  ^ 
the  Change  was  brought  about.  —  Observance  of  Good  Friday 
left  to  the  Churches.  —  Influence  of  the  Action  in  Massachu- 
setts. —  Conditions  in  Connecticut.  —  The  Good  Friday  Fast  a 
bond  of  Christian  Unity.  —  General  Acceptance  of  the  Proposal 
to  keep ''The  Feasts  of  Christ." 446 

Addenda.  —  A  Thanksgiving  on  the  Arrival  of  the  Pilgrims .     .  457 

Abbreviations 460 

Some  Sources  of  Information 461 

Calendar 464 

Bibliography 515 

Index  of  Bibliography 599 

General  Index  603 


FACSIMILE  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAaa 
A  Fast  Day  Proclamation  of  1670,  being  the  earliest  New 
England  broadside  proclamation  known     .         Frontispiece 

A    Proclamation   for    the    Thanksgiving    Day  in  the 

Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  June  29,  1676  .        .        .      200 

A  Proclamation  for  the  Fast  Day  in  Connecticut, 
June  29,  1709,  being  the  first  broadside  proclamation 
printed  in  the  Colony 432 


UNIVERSITY 


THE  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS 
OF  NEW   ENGLAND. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   HOLY   SEASONS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

When  Gregory  the  Great,  in  the  year  596,  dis- 
patched Augustine  on  his  mission  to  Ethelbert,  king  of 
Kent,  he  sent  with  him  the  ecclesiastical  observances 
of  the  Roman  Church.  The  policy  adopted  in  dealing 
with  the  customs  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  was  that  of 
substituting  some  Christian  festival  for  a  heathen 
feast,  allowing  much  in  the  pagan  manner  of  celebrat- 
ing it  to  remain,  "  to  the  end  that,"  as  that  Pope  ex- 
pressed it,  "  whilst  some  gratifications  are  outwardly 
permitted  them  they  may  the  more  easily  consent  to 
the  inward  consolations  of  the  grace  of  God."  ^  Thus 
it  was,  that  many  barbaric  customs  and  ceremonies 
were  invited  to  attach  themselves  to  Christian  festivals. 
In  niunerous  instances  the  former  were  altered  only 
in  purpose,  and  that  after  the  lapse  of  years.  The 
Saxons,  in  common  with  many  of  the  northern  na- 
tions, had  their  Yule-feast  at  the  winter  solstice, 
which  was  doubtless  even  then  hallowed  in  sim  wor- 
ship by  fhe  fiery  sun-wheel  and  the  blazing  Yule-log. 
They  had  the  festival  of  Easter,  many  believe,  about 
the  vernal  equinox,  and  probably  also  a  celebration  at 

1  Bede,  b.  1,  c.  30. 


12  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

the  summer  solstice.  Around  their  temples  they  built 
for  themselves  huts  of  the  boughs  of  trees  and  there 
held  high  carnival.  These  and  other  pagan  observ- 
ances being  permitted,  the  Christian  calendar  easily 
obtained  recognition,  and  thereafter  the  holy  seasons 
of  England  were  ordered  by  the  Catholic  Church,  with 
such  additions  as  local  saints  might  suggest,  and  under 
certain  regulations  enacted  by  English  kings  and 
bishops. 

It  is  first  of  all  necessary  to  obtain  some  conception 
of  the  extent  and  evils  of  the  system  which  the  Puri- 
tans opposed,  as  that  was  the  reason  why  they  rejected 
it  and  substituted  their  fast  and  thanksgiving  days. 

A  lamented  master  of  the  historical  literature  of 
the  time.  Dr.  Henry  M.  Dexter,  has  given  us,  in  his 
description  of  "the  darkness  and  the  dawn," a  sum- 
mary as  to  holy  days,  which  we  cannot  do  better 
than  quote.  He  says,  "  On  more  than  one  quarter  of 
the  secular  days  of  the  year  it  [the  church]  forbade 
all  persons  over  twelve  years  of  age  to  taste  food 
until  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  besides  prohibiting 
all  to  eat  on  the  eves  of  most  festival  days.  On  the 
other  hand  it  set  aside  nearly  one  half  of  the  year  on 
various  pretexts  as  festival  time.  And  when  it  is  re- 
membered that  on  all  these  holy  days  the  people 
were  compelled  to  attend  church  under  severe  penal- 
ties, it  will  be  seen  how  great  was  the  tax  put  thus 
upon  the  industry  of  the  land."  ^  This,  however,  does 
not  fully  state  our  case,  for  the  primary  objection  of 
the  Non-conformists  was  to  the  desecration  of  the 
Lord's  Day,  which  had  come  about  through  its  equal- 
ity with  saints'  days,  as  the  tyranny  of  the  church  re- 

^  Congregationalism  as  seen  in  its  Literature^  p.  26. 


THE  HOLY  SEASONS   OF  THE  CHURCH.      13 

acted  to  the  permission  of  labor  and  recreations  during 
holy  seasons.  They  contended  most  strenuously  for 
the  Sabbath,  which  they  found  it  impossible  to  rescue 
from  abuses  except  by  rejecting  other  ecclesiastical 
festivals,  which,  in  themselves,  they  would  have  been 
willing  to  retain. 

Let  us  briefly  trace  the  growth  of  these  evils  by  an 
examination  of  the  civil  laws  relating  to  holy  seasons. 
Perhaps  the  first  English  law  on  the  subject  was  that 
of  Ina,  king  of  the  West  Saxons,  A.  D.  693,  which 
forbade  working  on  the  Lord's  Day.  ''  If  a  master 
obliges  his  slave  to  work  on  the  Lord's  Day,  he  shall 
pay  thirty  shillings  fine,  and  the  slave  be  set  free; 
but  if  the  slave  presumes  to  work  without  his  master's 
order  he  shall  be  flogged,  or  purchase  exemption  by 
a  fine.  A  freeman  guilty  of  the  like  offense  is  either 
to  lose  his  liberty  or  pay  sixty  shillings.  A  priest  in- 
curs a  double  penalty."  ^  In  the  canons  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Berkhampsted,  A.  D.  697,  —  which,  by  the  bye, 
note  the  holy  season  as  continuing  from  sunset  of 
Saturday  to  sunrise  of  Monday,  —  there  is  a  provision 
against  traveling  on  the  Lord's  Day ;  and  the  same 
was  repeated  by  the  Council  of  Clovishoff,  A.  D.  747, 
under  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  was  implied 
in  the  constitutions  of  Egbert,  Archbishop  of  York, 
A.  D.  749.  It  will  be  noticed  that  these  laws  apply 
only  to  the  Sabbath.  But  Alfred,  A.  D.  887,  when  he 
prescribed  a  double  penalty  for  thieving,  included  in 
the  prohibition  Christmas  and  Easter.  A  few  years 
later,  A.  D.  906,  when  Edward  the  Elder  made  a 
treaty  with  Guthriun,  not  only  was  trading  forbidden 
on  the  Lord's  Day,  but  working  on  that  or  any  other 

^  Spelman,  Concilia,  i.  183. 


14  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

feast  day.  This  was  the  law  :  "  The  Dane  who  trades 
on  the  Lord's  Day  shall  forfeit  the  article  and  pay 
a  fine  of  twelve  pence.  The  Englishman  shall  pay 
thirty  shillings.  The  freeman  who  does  any  work  on 
any  feast  day  shall  be  reduced  to  servitude  or  pay  a 
fine."  1  These  same  laws  were  in  force  in  the  time  of 
Canute,  A.  d.  1032,  and  he  revived  the  penalties 
which  several  Saxon  bishops  had  omitted.  We  may 
infer  that  holy  seasons  were  then  very  strictly  re- 
garded from  the  fact  that,  throughout  most  of  this 
period,  laws,  either  of  Frankish  or  Roman  origin, 
were  in  existence  against  huntings,  banquetings,  "  idle 
stories  and  talkings,"  songs,  dances,  standing  at  the 
corners  of  the  streets  and  in  the  open  places,  "  the 
profane  canticles  of  the  Gentiles,"  games  and  "  devil- 
ish mimicries."  Surely  these  Saxon  Blue-Laws  were 
equal  to  anything  ever  enacted  in  New  England.  At- 
tendance was  required,  not  only  upon  the  services  of 
the  Sabbath,  but  upon  matins,  mass,  and  vespers.  Ec- 
clesiastical usages  which  were  early  in  vogue  were  en- 
joined by  the  civil  law,  such  as  abstinence  from  food 
and  marriage  ceremonies.  It  was  the  treaty  above 
mentioned  which  stipulated  that  "  if  a  freeman  shall 
break  an  appointed  fast  by  taking  food  he  shall  be 
subject  both  to  a  fine  and  the  penalty  of  the  violation 
of  the  law,"  and  this  applied  to  the  Lenten  fast, 
Ember  days,  and  all  other  appointed  fasts. 

Furthermore,  these  holy  seasons  were  judicial  holi- 
days, and  had  been  so  since  the  treaty  of  Edward, 
which  said,  "Let  there  be  no  trials,  neither  let  any 
one  be  sworn  on  feast  days  or  the  appointed  fasts." 
The  increase  of  such  days  in  the  time  of  Canute  and 

1  Spelman,  Concilia^  i.  391. 


THE  HOLY  SEASONS   OF  THE   CHURCH      15 

under  Edward  the  Confessor  indicates  very  clearly 
the  tendency  toward  an  extension  of  holy  seasons.^ 
In  the  main  these  early  laws  continued  on  the  statute- 
books  throughout  the  Norman  period  of  English  his- 
tory. William  the  Conqueror  was  quite  content  to 
leave  the  ecclesiastics  to  themselves  and  reenact  the 
laws  of  Edward  the  Confessor.  The  same  is  true  of 
the  early  Plantagenet  kings.  During  the  reign  of 
John,  however,  there  was  a  general  revival  in  the  ob- 
servance of  holy  seasons.  It  was  furthered  by  a 
celestial  mandate  said  to  have  been  found  on  Mount 
Golgotha  in  Jerusalem,  which  an  abbot  brought  to 
England  preaching  a  crusade  against  popular  viola- 
tions of  holy  times.  Such  a  revelation  could  not  but 
make  a  more  powerful  impression  on  the  people  of 
that  age  than  the  laws  themselves.  It  enjoined  the 
keeping  of  Sunday  and  the  festivals  of  the  saints 
under  penalty  of  showers  of  stones  and  hot  water, 
ravenous  beasts,  and  final  destruction  by  pagan 
hordes,  from  which  they  had  only  been  kept  by  the 
prayers  of  the  most  holy  mother  Mary.  Such  a 
movement  furnishes  conclusive  evidence  of  this  im- 
portant fact  that,  in  the  twelfth  century,  the  reaction 
against  the  bondage  of  ecclesiasticism  had  attained 
considerable  proportions.  The  early  Saxon  laws, 
originally  designed  to  secure  the  sanctity  of  the  Sab- 
bath, had  been  applied  first  to  Christmas  and  Easter 
and  afterward  to  all  the  festivals  and  fasts  of  the 
church,  and  these  had  been  so  multiplied  that  the 
people  were  compelled  by  the  necessities  of  agricul- 
ture or  trade,  and  their  natural  craving  for  amuse- 
ments, to  establish  their  markets  even  on  the  Lord's 

1  See  Feasts  and  Fasts,  E.  V.  Neale. 


16  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

Day,  —  no  more  sacred  in  their  practices  than  saints' 
days,  —  and  upon  all  holidays  to  indulge  in  diversions 
hostile  to  attendance  upon  church  services.  We  are 
able  also  to  understand  the  struggle  of  the  thirteenth 
and  fourteenth  centuries  between  the  ecclesiastics  and 
this  laxity  among  the  people.  The  church  set  herself 
against  labors  of  the  most  trivial  character.  Attend- 
ance at  markets  on  holy  days  was  denounced  under 
the  threat  of  anathemas.  But  in  the  end,  the  people, 
who  could  not  lessen  the  days,  so  far  influenced  the 
church  that  labor  and  recreations  were  tolerated. 

The  Reformation  began  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
To  put  the  matter  in  a  few  words,  the  situation  forced 
an  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  people.  Sov- 
ereigns like  Henry  VIII.  and  EUzabeth  sought  to 
bring  it  about  by  repealing  the  statutes  or  tolerat- 
ing markets  and  shows  during  holy  seasons.  Some 
of  the  Puritans  staked  their  hopes  on  a  revision  of 
the  calendar.  These  movements  accomplished  much, 
at  least  in  an  economic  reform,  but  they  did  not  rescue 
the  Lord's  Day  from  its  sacrilege.  This  the  Dissent- 
ers did  by  distinguishing  it  from  other  holy  days, 
which  at  last  they  were  compelled  to  reject  altogether. 

When  Henry  VIII.  assumed  the  supremacy  of  the 
church,  he  abolished  aU  those  feasts  or  holidays  wliich 
came  in  harvest  time,  and  certain  others.  He  declared 
that  the  number  of  hoHdays  had  become  so  excessive 
that  it  was  prejudicial  to  the  commonwealth,  not  only 
increasing  idleness,  but  resulting  in  the  destruction  of 
crops  "  in  not  taking  th'  oportunitie  of  good  and  se- 
rene wheather  offered  upon  the  same  in  time  of  har- 
vest." i  An  attempt  was  also  made  to  decrease  the 
1  Wilkins,  Concilia,  iii.  823. 


THE  HOLY  SEASONS   OF  THE   CHURCH      17 

popular  veneration  of  the  saints,  but  customs  genera- 
tions old  could  not  be  so  easily  uprooted.  However, 
his  reign  was  an  economic  success,  and  it  prepared  the 
way  for  the  retention  of  the  Christian  calendar  in  the 
Church  of  England. 

Edward  VI.,  though  he  entered  more  into  the  true 
spirit  of  the  Reformation,  made  substantially  no  alter- 
ation in  the  calendar,  which  he  republished  in  the 
Book  of  Prayer.  There  was  a  tendency  toward  a  less 
strict  observance  of  festivals,  the  Lord's  Day  being 
classed  with  the  rest.  In  the  preamble  to  his  act  of 
1552,  setting  forth  "  The  Booke  of  Common  Prayer," 
it  was  enacted  that  it  shoidd  be  "  lawfid  to  every  hus- 
bandman, labourer  fisherman  and  to  all  and  every 
other  person  of  what  estate,  degree  or  condition  he  be, 
upon  the  holy  days  aforesaid  in  harvest,  or  any  other 
time  of  the  year  when  necessity  shall  require,  to  la- 
bour, ride,  fish  or  work  any  kind  of  work  at  their  free 
wills  and  pleasures."  Thomas  Fuller,  in  speaking  of 
the  fact  that  the  Lord's  Day  was  included  with  other 
holy  days  in  the  injunctions  of  Edward  VI.,  takes  oc- 
casion to  thank  God  that  the  Reformation  was  progres- 
sive. It  was  so  in  the  Church  of  England,  and  he 
judges  with  partiality  who  ascribes  all  the  honors  of 
subsequent  reforms  to  the  Non-conformists.  Various 
attempts  were  made  by  churchmen  to  restore  the  sanc- 
tity of  the  Sabbath.  For  instance,  during  Elizabeth's 
reign  a  measure  was  tlu^own  out  for  the  postponement 
of  fairs  and  markets  from  Sunday  to  the  next  working 
day.  Similar  legislation  was  attempted  in  the  reign  of 
James  I.,  but  was  imsuccessful.  As  for  Elizabeth,  she 
did  not  restore  the  act  of  Edward  VI.  which  Mary 
had  repealed.     She  was  disinclined  to  follow  either  of 


18  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

them,  and  more  willing  than  they  to  tolerate  labor 
and  amusements.  She  even  by  a  distinct  act  placed 
the  Lord's  Day  and  saints'  days  on  the  same  footing.^ 
Her  reforms  pertained  principally  to  conduct  during 
time  of  service.  She  refused  to  check  the  desecration 
of  the  Sabbath  by  revels,  sports,  and  the  like,  which 
ran  high  during  her  reign;  indeed,  she  encouraged 
them.2  Had  she  adopted  the  more  liberal  and  reli- 
gious measures  proposed  by  her  own  bishops,  the 
outcome  might  have  been  different.  But  she  vacil- 
lated, and  when  undecided  did  nothing.  And  all  the 
while  the  Non-conformist  sentiment  was  increasing  in 
strength,  conceived  and  nurtured  as  it  was  in  antag- 
onism to  this  equal  regard  for  the  Sabbath  and  saints' 
days. 

Such  being  the  state  of  affairs  in  the  reign  of  James 
I.,  we  cannot  be  surprised  either  at  the  appearance  of 
his  "  Book  of  Sports,"  or  the  sensation  which  it  made. 
It  happened  in  this  wise :  In  the  summer  of  1617 
the  king  was  journeying  homeward  from  Scotland, 
where  his  stay  had  not  been  altogether  agreeable,  for 
the  Presbyterians  were  not  at  all  incKned  to  coincide 
with  his  views  on  Episcopacy.  Perhaps  he  had  not 
been  pleasantly  impressed  with  their  strict  observance 
of  Sunday,  and  was  the  more  willing  to  encourage  a 
laxity  in  accord  with  his  own  practices.^  The  royal 
company  were  indeed  having  a  jolly  time  of  it,  travel- 

1  1  Eliz.  c.  2. 

2  Gibson,  Codex  Juris,  etc.,  pp.  236,  242 ;  Wilkins,  Concilia,  iv. 
255 ;  Neal,  Hist,  of  Puritans,  i.  390,  391 ;  Cardwell,  Documentary 
Annals. 

^  Upon  one  occasion,  when  James  was  in  Scotland,  he  appointed  on 
a  Saturday  a  feast  for  the  following  Monday  for  the  entertainment  of 
two  French  ambassadors.  The  ministers  of  Edinburgh  on  the  Sabbath 
made  that  Monday  a  fast.  —  The  Phenix,  ii.  295. 


THE  HOLY  SEASONS   OF  THE   CHURCH.      19 

ing  by  easy  stages,  hunting  in  the  forests,  entertained 
at  sumptuous  banquets,  and  amused  by  the  players  and 
musicians  who  formed  a  part  of  the  king's  suite.  Thus 
they  came  to  Lancashire,  where  the  Papists,  who  were 
quite  numerous,  made  his  visit  the  opportunity  for 
complaining  that  they  were  much  oppressed  by  the 
prohibiting  of  their  amusements  on  the  Lord's  Day 
after  divine  service.  James  was  in  the  right  humor 
to  grant  their  petition,  which  he  did  the  more  readily 
in  the  hope  of  winning  the  popish  recusants.  Four 
days  thereafter  he  gave  his  petitioners  a  fair  example 
of  the  Sabbath  observance  which  he  favored.  We 
learn  from  the  private  journal  of  one  Nicholas  Asshe- 
ton  tha^i  the  programme  for  August  17  was  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Hoghton.  Wee  served  the  Lords  with  bis- 
kett,  wyne  and  jeUie.  The  Bishopp  of  Chester,  Dr. 
Morton,  preached  before  the  King.  To  Dinner. 
About  4  o'clock  there  was  a  rush-bearmg  and  Pipeing 
afore  the  King  in  the  Middle  Court.  Then  to  supp. 
Then,  about  10  or  11  o'clock  a  Maske  of  Noble- 
men, Knights,  Gentlemen,  and  Courtiers,  afore  the 
King  in  the  middle  round  in  the  garden.  Some 
Speeches  ;  of  the  rest  dancing  the  Huckles,  Tom  Bedlo 
and  the  Cowp  Justice  of  the  Peace."  ^  The  royal 
license  was  at  once  abused,  so  that  the  king,  on  the 
24th  of  May,  1618,  was  led  to  issue  his  "Decla- 
ration concerning  Lawfull  Sports,"  hoping  to  correct 
the  unwarranted  disturbance  of  worship,  and  at  the 
same  time  allay  the  excitement  which  had  been  occa- 
sioned. It  is  sufficient  to  quote  a  single  paragraph  to 
show  what  amusements  were  permitted  :  "  Our  plea- 
sure Hkewise  is.  That,  after  the  end  of  Divine  Service, 

1    The  King's  Book  of  Sports,  L.  A.  Govett,  p.  33. 


20  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

Our  good  people  be  not  disturbed,  letted  or  discour- 
aged from  any  lawfull  recreation,  Such  as  dancing, 
either  of  men  or  women.  Archery  for  men,  leaping, 
vaulting,  or  any  other  such  harmlesse  Recreation,  nor 
from  having  of  May  Games,  Whitson  Ales,  and  Mor- 
ris-dances, and  the  setting  up  of  May-poles,  and  other 
sports  therewith  used,  so  as  the  same  be  had  in  due 
and  convenient  time,  without  impediment  or  neglect 
of  Divine  Service :  And  that  women  shall  have  leave 
to  carry  rushes  to  the  Church  for  the  decoring  of  it, 
according  to  their  old  custome."  Bear  and  bull  bait- 
ing, which  were  practiced  on  other  days,  were  forbid- 
den on  Sundays,  —  a  law,  by  the  way,  which  was  not 
enforced.  To  win  the  right  to  indulge  in  the  above 
sports,  one  had  only  to  attend  service  in  the  morning. 
It  does  not  appear  that  the  "  Book  of  Sports  "  was  com- 
manded, to  be  read  in  the  churches ;  some  read  it  and 
others  did  not.  But  it  was  interpreted  as  the  future 
law  of  the  Sabbath.  The  Puritans,  including  many 
worthy  ministers  of  the  church  which  called  the  king 
the  "  defender  of  the  faith,"  were  greatly  incensed. 
The  royal  prerogative  was  found  to  be  fighting  hor- 
nets with  straw  in  most  desperate  fashion.  Not  until 
the  damage  had  been  done,  and  it  was  too  late  to  re- 
pair it,  did  the  king  see  his  mistake.  The  Pilgrims 
were  already  preparing  to  spread  the  white  sails  of 
the  Mayflower  for  the  voyage  to  the  western  world. 
Thousands  of  their  Puritan  brethren  had  become 
weary  of  the  struggle  to  establish  their  ideals  in  Eng- 
land and  were  ready  to  follow  them.  And  so  the  sane- 
tity  of  the  New  England  Sabbath  was  born. 

The  amusements  allowed  in  the  "  Book  of  Sports  " 
give  us  some  conception  of  the  provocation  which  our 


THE  HOLY  SEASONS   OF  THE   CHURCH.      21 

forefathers  liad.  Dancing  is  prominently  mentioned, 
from  which  cause  it  was  called  the  "  Dancing  Book." 
The  word  gave  license  to  many  dances  of  an  athletic 
character,  such  as  sword-dancing  and  rope-dancing, 
performed  by  traveling  joculators,  of  which  Strutt 
gives  a  very  full  description.^  But  promiscuous 
dances  of  men  and  women  are  primarily  meant,  and 
these  were  very  popular  at  that  time.  The  court  of 
King  James,  where  Buckingham  was  facile  princeps 
in  the  art,  had  set  a  fashion  for  which  the  peasantry 
had  a  gi*eat  Uking,  but  in  which  they  quite  neglected 
courtly  manners.  The  pillow  on  which  "  Joan  "  and 
"John  Sanderson"  were  accustomed  to  kneel,  and 
offer  salutations  as  they  were  welcomed  to  the 
"  prinkimi-prankum  "  dancers  in  the  ring,  was  vastly 
more  popular  than  the  hard  floor  of  the  parish 
church.2  Some  of  the  prevailing  immodest  customs 
would  scarcely  bear  recording.  Dances  were  often 
the  screen  of  rioting  and  drunkenness  even  in  the 
churchyard. 

"  The  priestes,  and  clerkes  to  daunce  have  no  shame ; 
The  frere  or  monke  in  his  frocke  and  cowle 
Must  daunce,  and  the  doctor  lepeth  to  play  the  foole." 

No  religious  person  could  witness  such  scenes,  follow- 
ing hard  upon  the  most  solenm  ritual  of  worship,  with 
any  complacency.  Archery  was  originally  ordered  by 
law  in  each  parish  as  a  military  exercise.  The  plea 
of  desecration  alone  was  raised  against  it,  and  the 
same  may  be  said  of  "  leaping  "  and  "  vaulting."  It 
was  claimed  that  such  sports  dissipated  Sabbath-day 
impressions. 

1  Strutt's  Sports  and  Pastimes^  c.  5. 

2  Brand's  Popular  Antiquities,  Bohn,  ii.  162. 


22  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

The  "May  games"  often  appear  in  early  New 
England  history  as  the  particular  aversion  of  the 
forefathers.  They  stood  for  much  in  the  way  of  im- 
moral practices.  We  may  fitly  give  Philip  Stubs's 
own  description,  found  in  his  '^  Anatomic  of  Abuses  :  " 
"  Against  Maie  day,  Whitsunday,  or  some  other  time 
of  the  year,  every  parish,  towne,  or  village,  assemble 
themselves,  both  men,  women,  and  children  ;  and  either 
all  together,  or  dividing  themselves  into  companies, 
they  goe  some  to  the  woods  and  groves,  some  to  the 
hills  and  mountaines,  some  to  one  place,  some  to 
another,  where  they  spend  all  the  night  in  pleasant 
pastimes,  and  in  the  morning  they  return,  bringing 
with  them  birche  boughes  and  branches  of  trees  to 
deck  their  assemblies  withal.  But  their  chief  est  jewel 
they  bring  from  thence  is  the  Maie-pole,  which  they 
bring  home  with  gi*eat  veneration,  as  thus  —  they 
have  twentie  or  fourtie  yoake  of  oxen,  every  oxe  hav- 
ing a  sweete  nosegaie  of  flowers  tied  to  the  tip  of  his 
homes,  and  these  oxen  drawe  home  the  May-poale, 
their  stinking  idol  rather,  which  they  cover  all  over 
with  flowers  and  hearbes,  bound  round  with  strings 
from  the  top  to  the  bottome,  and  sometimes  it  was 
painted  with  variable  colours,  having  two  or  three 
hundred  men,  women,  and  children  following  it  with 
great  devotion.  And  thus  equipped  it  was  reared 
with  handkerchiefs  and  flagges  streaming  on  the  top. 
They  strawe  the  ground  round  about  it,  they  bind 
green  boughs  about  it,  they  set  up  summer  halles, 
bowers  and  arbours  hard  by  it  and  then  fall  they  to 
banquetting  and  feasting,  to  leaping  and  dancing 
about  it,  as  the  heathen  people  did  at  the  dedication 
of  their  idoUs."     The  "  May  games  "  played  about 


#t^" 


THE  HOLY  SEASONS   OF  THE   CHURCH.      23 

this  fantastic  symbol  of  the  goddess  Flora  are  too 
numerous  for  recital.  ^  Puritan  indictments  were 
not  always  just,  though  doubtless  the  charges  brought 
against  the  immorality  of  the  season  were  believed  by 
them.  It  could  hardly  have  been  true,  as  Thomas 
Hall  said  in  his  ''Downfall  of  May-Games,"  that  ^^\^ 
none  but  "  ignorants,  atheists,  papists,  drunkards,  ^  ^ 
swearers,  swash-bucklers,  maid-marrions,  morrice-dan- 
cers,  maskers,  munmiers,  May-pole  stealers,  healths 
drinkers,  gamesters,  lewd  men,  light  women,"  and  the 
like  observed  the  festivities  of  the  May  Day.  But  it 
is  beyond  dispute  that  in  the  main  the  accusation  was 
true.  And  these  May  games  were  allowed  on  the 
Sabbath  as  upon  the  most  solemn  festival  days.  It 
was  Latimer  who  went  once  to  a  certain  church  to 
preach  on  a  holy  day  and  found  the  good  people  all 
gone  a  Maying  and  the  church  locked.  In  the  first 
"  Admonition  to  the  Parliament,"  1571,  the  minister 
is  represented  as  hurrying  through  the  service  because 
''  some  games  are  to  be  played  in  the  afternoone,  as 
lying  for  the  Whetstone,  heathenishe  dauncing  for  the 
ring,  a  Beare  or  a  Bull  to  be  bayted  or  else  Jacke  an 
apes  to  be  ryde  on  horse  backe,  or  an  enterlude  to  be 
playde,  and  if  no  place  else  can  bee  gotten  it  must  bee 
doone  in  the  church."  The  literature  of  the  Puritans 
is  full  of  the  details  of  such  desecration  of  the  Sab- 
bath and  churches.  A  Conformist  thus  arraigns  the 
church :  "  Goe  to  Alehouses  on  the  Sabboth  dayes, 
there  is  as  well  solde  all  kinde  of  loosenesse  as  vict- 
uals. Goe  to  Greenes,  there  is  myrth  that  would 
wound  a  Christian  man's  heart  with  heauinesse.     Goe 

^  See  Brand's  Popular  Antiquities,  i.  212-247  ;  Strutt's  Sports  and 
Pastimes,  Intro,  c.  xxxiv.  and  b.  iv.  c.  3,  §§  15-20. 


24  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

to  Fayres,  there  is  a  shew  and  trafficke,  as  well  of  all 
lewdnesse  as  of  wares.  .  .  .  The  Theatres,  Parish  gar- 
den, Tauernes,  streetes,  fields  all  full  and  prophanely 
occupied  and  this  chiefly  on  the  Sabboth  day."  ^ 
Against  all  this  our  forefathers  stood,  —  the  enlight- 
ened, industrious,  refined,  and  moral  as  well  as  reli- 
gious people  of  their  age.  They  could  not  discover  the 
appropriateness  of  commemorating  the  deaths  of  the 
foremost  apostles  in  a  heathen  fashion.  That  they 
entertained  a  reverence  for  the  descent  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  out  of  harmony  with  Whitsun-ales  is  no  reflec- 
tion upon  their  characters.  The  chief  contribution  of 
the  parishioner  to  this  holy  festival  was  strong  ale, 
and  the  most  virtuous  was  he  who  could  "  get  the 
soonest  to  it  and  spend  the  most  at  it ;  "  and  the  rol- 
licking games  grew  boisterous,  and  round  and  round 
whirled  the  morris-dancer,  whose  tinkling  bells,  fring- 
ing his  clownish  garments,  bore  no  inscription,  "  Holi- 
ness unto  the  Lord." 

The  forefathers  have  been  fairly  hooted  at  because 
they  were  opposed  to  the  observance  of  Christmas. 
Well,  let  the  reader  return  to  their  times,  and  station 
himself  in  a  Fleet  Street  Inn  on  a  Christmas  eve. 
The  way  without  is  obstructed  with  roistering  crowds. 
Wandering  minstrels  are  playing  their  ditties;  the 
showman  is  at  his  entertainment.  It  is  high  carnival, 
and  all  sorts  of  iniquity  have  had  a  liberty  conferred 
upon  them  by  the  law,  since  it  is  Christmas  time. 
There  comes  a  company  of  shouting  revelers  bearing 
the  Yule-log,  to  lay  with  all  ceremony  in  the  great  fire- 
place of  the  inn,  and  to  dance  about  the  fire  like  their 

1  The  TJnlawfull  Practices  of  Prelates,  A  Parte  of  a  Register,  p.  288. 
See,  also,  pp.  36,  63. 


THE  HOLY  SEASONS   OF  THE   CHURCH.      25 

Saxon  ancestors  from  whom  they  derived  the  custom. 
The  wassail-bowl  on  the  inn  table  is  emptied  and 
filled  as  the  night  advances.  Gambling  is  there,  and 
everywhere,  unrestricted.  Their  merriment  is  only 
interrupted  to  rush  to  the  windows  and  greet  the 
bands  of  singers,  who  know  well  what  impure  baUads 
will  best  answer  the  purpose  of  carols  for  the  crowd 
without  and  the  auditors  within.  If  their  taste  rises 
so  high,  they  may  sing  of  Christ  as  the  Lord  of  Mis- 
rule:— 

* '  The  darling  of  the  world  is  come, 
And  fit  it  is,  we  find  a  roome 
To  welcome  him.     The  nobler  part 
Of  all  the  house  here  is  the  heart, 
Which  we  will  give  him  ;  and  bequeath 
This  hollie  and  this  ivie  wreath 
To  do  him  honour,  who 's  our  King, 
And  lord  of  all  this  revelling." 

But  is  it  thought  that  we  shall  find  in  the  church 
on  the  morrow  a  quiet  resting-place  of  solemn  wor- 
ship ?  We  might  attend  the  chiu'ch  near  by.  The 
service  would  advance  with  some  degree  of  order, 
but  in  the  midst  of  it  we  might  hear  the  approaching 
Lord  of  Misrule  and  his  companions.  And  this,  in 
the  words  of  a  chronicler  of  the  time,  is  what  might 
happen :  "  Then  marche  this  heathen  company  to- 
wards the  church  and  churchyard,  their  pipers  piping, 
drummers  thundering,  their  bells  jyngling,  their  hobby 
horses  and  other  monsters  skirmishing  amongst  the 
crowd,  and  in  this  sort  they  goe  into  the  church, 
(though  the  minister  bee  at  prayer  or  preaching,) 
dancing  and  swinging  their  handkerchiefs  over  their 
heads  .  .  .  with  such  a  confused  noise  that  no  man 
can  hear  his  own  voice.     Then  the  foolish  people,  they 


26  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

look,  they  stare,  they  laugh,  they  fleer,  and  mount  upon 
forms  and  pews  to  see  these  goodly  pageants  solem- 
nized in  this  sort.  Then  after  this  about  the  church 
they  go  again  and  again,  and  so  forth  into  the  church- 
yard, where  they  have  commonly  their  banquetting 
houses  set  up."  ^  Thus  the  Lord  of  Misrule  invades 
the  sanctuary ;  and  if  any  reverent  person  remains  to 
conclude  the  service,  no  sooner  is  the  Nunc  dimittis 
sung,  —  "  Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in 
peace,  according  to  thy  word,  for  mine  eyes  have  seen 
thy  salvation,"  —  than  some  lusty  Christmas-keeper 
of  the  congregation  shouts  aloud  his  response  :  — 

"Yule,  yule,  yule. 
Three  puddings  in  a  pule 
Crack  nuts  and  cry  yule." 

This  is  what  Christmas  stood  for  in  those  "  good 
old  times."  Our  forefathers  looked  with  horror  upon 
such  sacrilege.  They  would  have  a  reformation  in 
the  keeping  of  holy  seasons.  The  authorities  of  the 
mother  church  attempted  it,  but  with  a  weak  hand 
and  poor  success.  A  little  company  of  Non-conform- 
ist saints  undertook  to  indicate  some  of  the  causes 
for  such  a  state  of  affairs,  and  they  were  cast  into 
prison  for  their  pains.  By  one  of  those  bitter  sar- 
casms of  which  liistory  is  guilty,  they  were  there, 
languishing  in  filth  and  half  starved,  on  the  very  day 
that  Elizabeth  was  solemnly  washing  the  feet  of  the 
poor  in  remembrance  of  the  Lord. 

It  is  indeed  surprising  that  our  fathers  left  behind 
them   their   prayer-books  when   they  came    to    New 

1  Anatomie  of  Abuses  j  Philip  Stubs;  Brand's  Pop.  Antiq.,  l^Ol-- 
503. 


THE  HOLY  SEASONS   OF  THE  CHURCH,      27 

England,  but  the  way  in  wMch  they  shook  the  dust  of 
centuries  off  their  feet,  in  renouncing  customs  which 
they  had  loved  from  childhood,  when  once  they  felt 
the  deck  beneath  them,  is  nothing  short  of  a  histori- 
cal phenomenon. 


CHAPTER  n. 

THE   FEASTS    OF    CHKIST. 

It  is  a  popular  impression  that  the  Puritans,  from 
the  first,  cherished  an  intense  hatred  for  Christmas- 
keeping.  This  is  doubtless  true  of  those  who  came  to 
New  England,  the  earliest  of  whom  belonged  to  the 
third  generation  of  those  who  bore  the  name.  But 
such  an  opinion  is  an  unjust  reflection  upon  those 
who  labored  for  reform  in  the  early  days  of  Queen 
Elizabeth.  It  should  be  modified  by  a  more  particu- 
lar study  of  the  situation  into  which  they  were  forced 
by  the  intolerance  of  the  mother  church.  The  fact  is, 
that  many  of  the  early  Puritans,  in  the  hope  of  re- 
forming popular  abuses,  were  willing  to  retain  the 
observance  of  Christmas,  Easter,  and  certain  other 
festivals  commemorative  of  Christ,  though  they  de- 
sired the  abrogation  of  saints'  days.  These  festivals 
were  known  as  the  "  Feasts  of  Christ."  Had  this  been 
granted  them,  the  calendar  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land would  thus  have  been  still  further  reformed, 
and  might  now  afford  a  practical  basis  for  the  union 
of  Christian  churches  in  their  observance  of  ecclesias- 
tical festivals,  for  to  a  considerable  extent  modern 
usages  conform  to  this  principle  of  the  early  Puri- 
tans. In  the  decay  of  the  Fast  Day  and  the  later  de- 
velopment of  the  Thanksgiving  Day,  it  is  believed  that 
the  descendants  of  the  Puritans  may  with  wisdom 
and  dignity  return  to  this  earlier  principle,  the  heep- 


THE  FEASTS   OF  CHRIST,  29 

ing  of  the  Feasts  of  Christ,  This  was  a  compromise 
between  the  reformed  calendar  of  the  EngKsh  Church 
and  the  practices  of  the  Presbyterians,  though  it  did 
not  arise  as  such,  and,  whether  fortunately  or  unfor- 
tunately, soon  sank  into  obscurity.  The  former  re- 
tained the  saints'  days  and  the  latter  rejected  all,  in- 
cluding Christmas  and  Easter.  It  is  now  our  purpose 
to  show  how  this  middle  way  of  the  early  Puritans 
arose,  and  how  it  failed  of  adoption. 

We  are  introduced  to  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 
It  is  presumed  that  Holinshed  fairly  represents  the 
best  reformed  sentiment,  and  therefore  his  own  state- 
ment is  here  given  :  "  Our  holie  and  festiuall  dales 
are  verie  well  reduced  also  vnto  a  lesse  nimiber  ;  for 
whereas  (not  long  since)  we  had  vnder  the  pope  foure 
score  and  fifteene  called  festiuall  and  thirtie  called 
Profesti,  beside  the  simdaies,  they  are  all  brought 
vnto  seauen  and  twentie  :  and  with  them  the  super- 
fluous numbers  of  idle  waks,  guilds,  fraternities, 
church-ales,  helpe-ales  and  soide-ales,  called  also  dirge- 
ales,  with  the  heathenish  rioting  at  bride-ales,  are 
well  diminished  and  laid  aside.  And  no  great  matter 
were  it  if  the  feasts  of  all  our  apostles,  euangelists 
and  martyrs,  with  that  of  all  saints  were  brought  to 
the  holie  daies  that  follow  vpon  Christmasse,  Easter 
and  Whitsuntide  ;  and  those  of  the  virgine  Marie, 
with  the  rest  vtterlie  remooued  from  the  calendars, 
as  neither  necessarie  nor  commendable  in  a  reformed 
church."  1  This  opinion,  however,  was  not  "  to  the 
manor  born."  The  English  reformers  had  been  satis- 
fied with  the  revision  of  the  calendar,  hoping  that 
time  would  correct  many  abuses  which  they  depre- 
^  Holinshed's  Chronicles,  ed.  1807,  i.  233. 


30  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

cated.  But  when  Queen  Mary  came  to  the  throne, 
those  who  were  so  fortunate  as  to  escape  her  blazmg 
fagots  found  a  refuge  at  the  Protestant  centres  on 
the  continent.  There  they  witnessed  the  freer  system 
and  simpler  discipline  of  the  Reformed  churches. 
They  lived  in  companionship  with  the  noblest  minds 
of  Geneva  and  Zurich,  with  whom  they  afterwards 
maintained  a  correspondence,  greatly  to  the  profit  of 
the  Reformation  in  England.^  When  the  news  of  the 
bloody  persecutor's  death  reached  them  in  their  exile, 
they  returned  homeward  like  the  redeemed  of  Baby- 
lon, in  great  expectation  of  the  future.  It  was  a 
considerable  importation  of  Calvinistic  theology ;  but 
as  questions  of  doctrine  were  at  the  time  quiescent  in 
England,  no  differences  arose  among  them.  But  in 
respect  to  church  government,  and  forms  and  ceremo- 
nies, they  had  been  under  the  most  positive  influ- 
ences. Unconsciously  it  may  be,  yet  nevertheless 
very  decidedly,  those  who  had  been  domiciled  among 
the  hospitable  people  of  Zurich  had  come  to  accept 
the  views  of  that  most  remarkable  and  sadly  forgotten 
man,  Henry  Bullinger,  who  had  been  and  still  was 
"  the  sponsor  of  the  English  Reformation."  2  The 
affection  in  which  he  was  held  is  scattered  like  per- 
fume throughout  the  letters  of  Jewel,  Parkhurst, 
Horn,  Pilkington,  and  Cox,  who  became  bishops  upon 
their  return,  and  of  Sandys  and  Grindal,  who  attained 
the  honor  of  archbishops.  These  men,  and  many 
others  of  lesser  note,  could  not  but  compare  the  sim- 
ple service  at  Zurich  with  the  cathedral  splendor  of 
the  EngKsh  ritual.     Being  in  the  current  of  reform, 

1  Parker  Society,  Zurich  Letters. 

2  Hist,  of  Early  Puritans,  J.  B.  Marsden,  p.  17. 


THE  FEASTS   OF  CHRIST.  31 

nothing  was  more  natural  than  that  they  should  deter- 
mitie  to  follow  the  example  of  their  friends  at  Zurich, 
and  rid  the  church  of  "  the  last  degrading  vestiges  of 
popery."  ^ 

Archbishop  Parker,  more  than  any  one  man,  it  has 
been  said,  was  responsible  for  Non-conformity.  One 
of  his  early  labors  was,  as  Neal  expresses  it,  to  "  set- 
tle the  Kalendar,"  and  this  he  did  by  prescribing  les- 
sons for  the  whole  ecclesiastical  year,  which  had  not 
been  done  before.  On  the  13th  of  January,  1562, 
the  Convocation  met  at  St.  Paul's.  After  they  had 
finished  the  review  of  the  doctrines  of  the  church,  re- 
ducing them  to  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  they  took 
up  the  discipline.  A  paper  was  presented  in  the 
House  covering  seven  points.  The  last  reads  as  fol- 
lows :  "  That  all  Saints  Days,  Festivals,  and  Holidays 
bearing  the  Name  of  a  Creature  may  be  abrogated ;  or 
at  least  a  Commemoration  only  of  them  reserved  by 
Sermons,  Homilies  or  Common  Prayer  for  the  better 
instructing  the  People  in  history,  and  that  after  ser- 
vice men  may  go  to  work."  These  articles  were 
signed,  be  it  noted,  by  some  of  the  most  prominent 
churchmen  of  England,  thirty-three  in  number, 
deans,  archdeacons,  and  proctors.^  Strype  signifi- 
cantly says :  "  These  divines  were  biased  (most  of 
whom  had  been  in  exile)  towards  those  platforms 
which  were  received  in  the  reformed  churches  where 
they  had  a  little  before  sojourned."  This  was  true, 
and  it  is  the  point  we  emphasize.     A  few  days  there- 

1  The  Pilgrim  Fathers,  Bartlett,  p.  15. 

2  Neal's  Hist,  of  Puritans,  i.  180-182  ;  Strype's  Annals,  i.  1.  500- 
502.  Both  these  authors  give  a  list  of  the  signers.  See,  also,  Mars- 
den's  Hist,  of  Early  Puritans,  p.  44;  Peirce's  Vindication  of  the 
Dissenters,  pp.  53-55. 


32  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

after  —  these  seven  requests  not  finding  general  favor 
—  another  set  of  six  articles  was  introduced  in  the 
House,  supported,  it  seems,  by  the  same  party  with 
some  others.  The  first  article  reads  as  follows : 
"  That  all  Sundays  in  the  Year,  and  principal  Feasts 
of  Christ,  be  kept  Holidays ;  and  that  all  other  Holi- 
days be  abrogated."  This  was  the  same  in  substance 
as  the  former,  but  more  concise  in  expression.  In  the 
debate  which  followed,  the  two  parties  were  distinctly 
represented,  one  the  Zurich  exiles,  the  other  those 
who  resented  the  adoption  of  foreign  customs,  prefer- 
ring to  follow  the  example  of  their  own  reformers, 
Ridley  and  Cranmer.  Probably  this  article  would 
have  met  the  same  fate  had  it  stood  alone.  In  the 
vote,  from  which  some  were  absentees,  forty-three 
were  found  in  favor  and  thirty-five  against  it ;  but  in 
the  counting  of  proxies  it  was  lost  by  a  majority 
of  one,  fifty-eight  being  in  favor  and  fifty-nine  op- 
posed. So  worthy  a  cause  fell  hy  the  hlow  of  one 
praicy  I  It  was  a  feeble  victory  for  Archbishop 
Parker,  but  enough  to  encourage  his  pressure  for 
conformity,  resulting,  as  the  sequel  shows,  in  the  re- 
jecting of  Christmas  and  Easter  by  the  Non-con- 
formists. 

Let  us  now  turn  back  and  trace  this  system  of  keep- 
ing the  Feasts  of  Christ  to  its  source.  This  is  the 
more  important  because  we  discover  in  the  person  of 
John  Calvin  the  chief  of  those  influences  which  subse- 
quently moved  Thomas  Cartwright  in  England  and 
John  Knox  in  Scotland  to  declare  for  the  abrogation 
of  all  ecclesiastical  festivals  and  the  keeping  only  of 
the  Lord's  Day. 

"  Henry  BuUinger,"  says  Thomas  Fuller,  "  was  the 


THE  FEASTS   OF  CHRIST.  33 

most   excellent  of  all   tlie    divines   that    Switzerland 
yielded."  i 

"  Never  could  worth  lodge  in  a  richer  breast." 
His  scholarly  attainments  and  moderate  temper  won 
the  affection  of  all,  to  the  great  enlargement  of  liis 
influence.  The  views  he  held  concerning  the  outward 
reform  of  ceremonies  were  less  radical  than  those  of 
his  Genevan  neighbors.  Farel  and  Viret  had  there 
abolished  all  festivals  before  the  coming  of  Calvin,  and 
they  are  to  be  regarded  as  the  forerunners  of  the 
Non-conformists  in  this  respect.  Calvin  was  for  some 
time  indifferent  on  the  subject.  Upon  his  banish- 
ment the  Bernese  introduced  at  Geneva  their  system, 
observing  the  four  festivals,  —  the  circiuncision,  the 
annunciation,  the  ascension,  and  Christmas.  In  a 
letter  Bidlinger  says,  since  about  1538,  they  at  Zurich 
had  been  rid  of  the  many  festivals  and  retained  only 
the  four,  of  which  the  annunciation  finally  dropped 
out.  When  Calvin  returned  to  Geneva  he  suffered 
these  Feasts  of  Christ  to  remain,  recognizing  them  by 
hours  of  divine  service,  though  he  was  exercised  be- 
cause the  circumcision  was  more  prominent  than  the 
crucifixion,  and  denounced  the  annunciation  as  a  su- 
perstition. However,  he  seems  to  have  been  drifting 
all  the  time  towards  a  rejection  of  all,  for  which  he 
had  little  regard.  In  1550,  by  no  advice  of  his,  yet 
"  not  at  variance  with  his  own  opinions,"  partly  from 
national  feeling,  the  Council  at  Geneva  suddenly 
abolished  all  festivals,  providing  only  that  Christmas 
should  be  celebrated  on  the  succeeding  Simday.^ 
This  Calvin  called  the  "  better  custom,"  and  it  flour- 

^  Abel  RedevivuSf  ed.  1867,  ii.  35. 

2  Life  and  Times  of  John  Calvin,  Henry,  i.  134,  418;  ii.  115-117. 


84  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

ished  thereafter  at  Geneva,  even  to  the  imprisonment 
of  some  in  1555  who  observed  Christmas  Day. 

The  overthrow  of  the  Zurich  system  at  Geneva  gave 
no  offense  to  Bullinger,  who  praised  the  apostolic 
liberty  of  the  Genevese  by  which  also  he  himself 
retained  his  Feasts  of  Christ.  His  motive  was  the 
glorification  of  the  Lord,  and  his  principle  as  regards 
others,  toleration  in  things  indifferent.  Thus  the  two 
systems  are  clearly  defined,  that  of  Zurich  and  that  of 
Geneva,  both  different  from  that  of  Luther's  followers, 
who  retained  the  saints'  days. 

The  very  year  of  the  English  Convocation  referred 
to,  Bullinger  composed  what  became  the  Second  Hel- 
vetic Confession,  which  appeared  at  Zurich  in  1566, 
and  attained  a  preeminence  in  the  Reformed  churches. 
To  this  we  advert.  Article  XXIV.,  after  commending 
the  Lord's  Day,  "  to  be  observed  in  Christian  freedom, 
not  with  Jewish  superstition,"  declares :  "  If  congrega- 
tions in  addition  commemorate  the  Lord's  nativity, 
circumcision,  crucifixion,  resurrection,  and  ascen- 
sion, and  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  we  greatly 
approve  of  it.  But  feasts  instituted  by  men  in  honor 
of  saints  we  reject,  though  the  memory  of  the  saints 
is  profitable,  and  should  be  commended  to  the  people 
with  exhortations  to  follow  their  virtues."  ^ 

The  English  exiles  who  had  been  at  Zurich  returned 
home  with  these  views.  Those  who  were  afterwards 
elevated  to  a  bishopdom  held  them,  and  this  consti- 
tuted a  part  of  the  reform  which  they  would  gladly 
have  seen  furthered  in  England.  The  Queen  was  not 
so  inclined,  and  Sandys  says  in  one  of  his  letters  that 
for  his  early  vehemence  he  came  near  being  deposed 

^  Schaff 's  Creeds  of  Christendom^  i.  417. 


THE   FEASTS   OF  CHRIST.  35 

and  suffering  tlie  displeasure  of  her  Majesty.^  There 
is  no  doubt  that  Cox,  Grindal,  Horn,  Sandys,  Jewel, 
Parkhurst,  and  Bentham,  upon  their  first  return  from 
exile,  labored  for  this  further  reform  in  the  Enghsh 
Church,  of  which  the  adoption  of  the  Feasts  of  Christ 
was  a  part ;  but  they  could  not  prevail  with  the  Queen 
and  Parliament.  So  finally,  after  consultation,  they 
concluded  not  to  desert  their  ministry  for  some  rites 
so  few  and  not  in  themselves  evil.^  In  the  vestiarian 
controversy  which  followed,  concerning  what  they 
themselves  had  called  "  fooleries,"  and  "  relics  of  the 
Amorites,"  they  maintained  with  sufficient  energy 
that  these  were  things  indifferent,  but  forgot,  it  seems, 
that,  being  so,  those  who  found  offense  in  them  should 
not  be  pressed  to  conformity.  The  objection  to  saints' 
days  had  the  same  experience. 

After  the  Convocation  of  1562,  when  the  measures 
for  retaining  the  Feasts  of  Christ  failed,  the  question 
no  longer  was  whether  saints'  days  should  be  abolished, 
but  whether  those  who  would  not  observe  them  should 
forfeit  their  ministry,  not  to  say  endure  imprisonment 
and  martyrdom.  Ten  years  passed.  Meanwhile  a 
respectable  number  of  ministers  had  come  into  promi- 
nence who  held  neither  more  nor  less  on  this  point 
than  those  who  had  introduced  the  six  articles  in  the 
Convocation.  They  had  no  disagreement  on  points  of 
doctrine,  only  in  discipline.  They  asked  as  to  fes- 
tivals that  the  Sabbath  might  be  kept  holy  ;  that  the 
annual  fast  of  Lent,  and  Friday  and  Saturday  fasts, 
and  saints'  days,  might  not  be  enjoined,  being  willing 

1  Parker  Society,  Zurich  Letters,  April  1,  1560. 

2  Ibid.,  i.  p.  149  n. ;  Strype's  Annalsj  i.  1.  263;  Peirce's  Vindica- 
lion  of  the  Dissenters,  p.  43. 


36  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

that  others  should  exercise  the  same  right  of  con- 
science. Their  willingness  to  retain  Christmas, 
Good  Friday^  Easter,  and  Whitsunday  was  desjjised. 
They  actually  held  out  this  olive  branch  until  it  with- 
ered in  their  hands.  At  last,  failing  of  justice  from 
the  Queen  and  the  bishops,  they  appealed  to  Parlia- 
ment. In  1571  John  Field  and  Thomas  Wilcocks, 
two  London  ministers,  wrote  the  famous  "  Admonition 
to  the  Parliament."  ^  For  this  they  were  committed 
to  Newgate  prison.  This  awakened  great  sympathy 
for  their  cause.  Their  little  tract  was  widely  read, 
several  editions  appearing  from  an  unknown  press. 
During  their  imprisonment  they  issued,  December  4, 
1572,  a  Confession  of  Faith,  in  which  among  other 
statements  they  said :  "  We  think  that  those  Feast- 
days  of  Christ,  as  of  his  Birth,  Circumcision,  Pass- 
over, Resurrection  and  Ascension,  etc.,  may,  by  Chris- 
tian liberty  be  kept,  because  they  are  only  devoted  to 
Christ,  to  whom  all  days  and  times  belong.  But  days 
dedicated  to  saints,  with  fasts  on  their  eves,  we  utterly 
dislike,  though  we  approve  of  the  reverend  memory  of 
the  saints,  as  examples  to  be  propounded  to  the  people 
in  sermons ;  and  of  publick  and  private  Fasts  as  the 
circumstances  of  nations  or  private  persons  require."  ^ 
And  this  was  the  fast-failing  voice  of  such  as  had  ac- 
cepted the  views  of  the  Zurich  exiles.  Their  friends 
had  vanished  in  the  shades  of  Episcopacy.  Visited, 
indeed,  by  some  kindred  souls  and  faithful  parishioners, 
they  were  suffered  to  languish  in  the  unwholesome 
vileness  of  the  place  beyond  their  lawful  sentence,  en- 
during the  cold  of  winter,  and,  what  was  more,  the  con- 

^  Authorities  have  associated  with  these  two,  in  the  drawing  up  of 
this  admonition,  Sampson,  Lever,  Gilby,  and  Cartwright. 
2  Neal's  Hist,  of  Puritans,  i.  290,291. 


THE  FEASTS   OF  CHRIST,  37 

cem  for  their  impoverished  families ;  and  it  was  not 
in  mercy  that  they  were  at  last  released.  Nearly  fifty 
years  afterward  the  king  of  England  sought  to  intro- 
duce into  the  Kirk  of  Scotland  this  very  observance  of 
Christmas,  Easter,  Whitsimday,  and  the  Ascension  of 
Christ ;  but  the  ministers  would  not  even  read  the  ar- 
ticle in  their  churches,  so  greatly  had  Non-conformist 
sentiments  altered  meanwhile.^  It  was  then  too  late 
for  such  a  compromise. 

We  are  not  forgetfid  that  this  was  but  one  point  in 
the  controversy,  and  ahnost  lost  in  the  boiling  caldron. 
It  was  not,  however,  rejected  because  of  its  bad  com- 
pany. The  Episcopal  party  determined  to  retain 
the  saints'  days.  Against  these  the  Non-conformists 
protested  as  the  remnants  of  popery .^  And  so,  as 
the  discussion  went  on,  it  developed  the  opinion  among 
them  that  these  were  not  things  indifferent,  especially 
as  the  popish  customs  remained  in  influence. 

While  Field  and  Wilcocks  were  in  prison,  Thomas 
Cartwright,  "  lately  returned  from  beyond  sea,"  wrote 
a  second  "  Admonition  to  the  Parliament,"  taking  up 
their  cause.  This  is  the  point  where  the  Presbyterian 
system,  nurtured  at  Geneva,  advocated  by  Cartwright 
and  Knox,  came  to  the  front  in  the  discussion.  Thus 
the  silver  stream  was  lost  in  the  swollen  river !  These 
Presbjrterian  Non-conformists  wished  to  have  all  festi- 
vals abolished.^      They  assumed  the  failui^e  of  efforts 

1  Neal's  Hist  of  Puritans,  ii.  118,  119. 

2  Hawkins,  one  of  the  Non-conformists,  is  reported  to  have  said  at 
his  examination,  June  20,  1567  :  "  Well,  Master  Hooper  saith  in  his 
Coramentarie  vppon  the  Commandments  that  holy  dayes  are  the  leauen 
of  Antichrist."  William  White  said:  "The  princes  lawe  sayeth, 
Thou  shalt  not  labour  seuen  dayes  but  shalt  keepe  the  popish  holi- 
dayes."  — A  Parte  of  a  Register,  pp.  35,  36. 

*  They  afterwards  claimed  that  it  was  Whitgift  who  forced  them 


38  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

to  reform  abuses.  If  they  must  be  beggars,  they 
might  as  well  ask  for  a  whole  loaf.  Their  view  was 
daily  growing  in  popularity,  and  was  argued  directly 
from  the  Scriptures  with  excellent  ability.  A  short 
time  sufficed  to  establish  it  as  the  consensus  of  Non- 
conformist opinion.  And,  to  show  what  an  importance 
it  had  in  shaping  the  prejudices  of  the  New  England 
fathers,  it  has  only  to  be  remembered  that,  within  the 
decade  from  1570  to  1580,  Robert  Browne,  Henry 
Barrowe,  John  Greenwood,  and  John  Penry  were  at 
Cambridge  University,  where  Thomas  Cartwright,  as 
"  Lady  Margaret,  Professor  of  Divinity,"  rose  to  a 
preeminent  influence;  and  during  the  same  period 
Henry  Ainsworth  and  John  Robinson  were  born. 
The  advocacy  of  the  Feasts  of  Christ,  as  a  system, 
passed  to  its  burial  in  England  before  the  Separatist 
movement  had  its  birth. 

Thus  arose  the  controversy  between  Cartwright  and 
Whitgift,  in  which  the  observance  of  holy  days  was 
one  prominent  point.  The  literature  relating  to  it  is 
voluminous,^  and  it  is  unnecessary  to  follow  the  discus- 
sion. It  is  sufficient  to  note  that  by  it  the  two  par- 
ties were  thoroughly  intrenched ;  the  one  rejecting  all 
holy  days  except  the  Sabbath,  because  they  are  not 
commanded  in  the  Scriptures,  the  other  claiming  that 
the  church  had  authority  from  the  fathers  to  observe 
days  not  enjoined.     However,  the  controversy  was  of 

to  reject  all  the  remnants  of  popery.  —  Loyalty  of  the  Presbyterians, 
1713,  pp.  94  ff. 

^  The  burden  of  the  arguments  is  found  in  Whitgif t's  Defense  of 
the  Answere  to  the  Admonition  against  the  Beplie  of  T.  C,  1574. 
See  Dexter's  Bibliography,  Lit.  of  Cong.,  Nos.  44,  46,  48,  50,  57,  64, 
72.  Also,  Fuller's  Church  Hist.,  h.  ix.  s.  3,  c.  7  ;  Heylyn's  Hist, 
of  Presby.,  p.  238 ;     Peirce's  Vindication,  p.  86. 


THE  FEASTS   OF  CHRIST.  39 

great  service  in  lifting  up  the  standard  of  the  Non- 
conformists. Thereafter  there  was  unanimity  among 
them  on  the  subject.  Heylyn  says  :  "  They  introduced 
little  by  little  a  general  neglect  of  the  weekly  fasts, 
the  holy  time  in  Lent,  and  the  Embring-days,  redu- 
cing all  acts  of  humiliation  to  solemn  and  occasional 
fasts,  as  amongst  the  Scots."  ^  Among  the  Presby- 
terians of  both  England  and  Scotland  the  old  system 
was  dead.  So  it  was  among  the  scattered  companies 
of  Separatists.  And  furthermore  there  was  a  secret 
inclination  toward  the  same  opinions  among  thousands 
who  still  worshiped  in  the  mother  church,  preparing 
them  to  adopt  a  new  system,  that  of  fast  and  thanks- 
giving days,  when  they  should  have  crossed  the  sea  to 
New  England. 

^  Heylyn's  Hist,  of  Preshy.y  p.  389.  When  the  Scots  gave  their 
sanction  to  the  Helvetic  Confession,  they  excepted  the  holy  days.  Cf . 
Schaff's  Creeds,  etc.,  L  394,  682. 


CHAPTER  III. 

FAST   AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS   IN  ENGLAND. 

"  But  such  have  been  these  times  of  late, 
That  Holy  dayes  are  out  of  date, 

And  holynesse  to  boot ; 
For  they  that  do  despise,  and  scorn 
To  keep  the  day  that  Christ  was  bom, 

Want  holynesse  no  doubt." 

So  run  the  lines  of  a  ballad  which  attained  a  popu- 
larity among  the  Cavaliers  upon  the  reaction  from 
Cromwellian  rule  in  England.^  It  was  true  enough 
that  holy  days  were  "  out  of  date."  If  anything  had 
been  left  undone  by  Elizabeth  to  make  them  so,  James 
had  contributed  it  in  his  "Book  of  Sports."  The 
Non-conformists,  however,  were  not  satisfied  to  desert 
wholly  the  fasting  customs  in  which  they  had  been 
nurtured,  nor  ignore  the  spirit  of  thanksgiving  which 
had  pervaded  their  ancient  festivals.  A  new  system 
of  holy  days  was  demanded.  There  were  already  pre- 
pared for  their  adoption  customs  of  observing  days  of 
a  private  religious  character,  and,  what  was  more 
essential  in  the  trend  of  Puritan  life,  days  of  fasting 
and  thanksgiving  proclaimed  by  ecclesiastical  or  civil 
authorities.  Out  of  these  customs,  destined  to  attain 
a  vigorous  development  in  the  mother  country  dur- 
ing the  Commonwealth,  arose  the  fast  and  thanksgiv- 
ing days  of  New  England. 

It  is  so  obvious  as  hardly  to  need  emphasis  that  the 

^  Bump  Ballads,  ii.  52. 


IN  ENGLAND.  41 

Puritans  were  brought  under  the  immediate  influence 
of  Old  Testament  usages.  The  spirit  of  Jewish  cere- 
monials displaced  that  of  the  Roman  Catholic  ritual, 
and  as  a  natural  sequence  they  recognized  the  author- 
ity of  scriptural  fastings  and  thanksgivings.  So  they 
founded  their  system  upon  the  Bible.  ^ 

The  philosophy  of  their  institution  is  found  in  the 
Puritan  doctrine  of  Divine  Providence.  When  the 
Reformation  came  to  its  fruitage,  a  reanimated  if 
not  wholly  new  feeling  prevailed  as  to  the  divine 
ordering  of  events.  A  God  declared  in  mystical  ser- 
vices, which  the  worshipers  did  not  understand,  gave 
place  to  profound  convictions  arising  out  of  a  spir- 
itual experience  with  Him.  The  dormant  sensibility 
of  sin  was  revived,  and  hence  a  fear  of  God's  threat- 
ened judgments.  They  imbibed  those  theological  doc- 
trines  generally  termed  Calvinistic.  According  to  t 
their  interpretation  of  Biblical  history,  God  is  con- 
stantly and  directly  supervising  tiie  affairs  of  men, 
sending  evil  upon  the  city  of  the  Ninevites  for  their 
sins,  for  "  shall  evil  befall  a  city,  and  the  Lord  hath 
not  done  it  ?  "  ^  or  blessing  his  people  when  they  turn 
from  their  evil  ways,  for  "  who  knoweth  whether  God 
will  not  turn  and  repent,  and  turn  away  from  his 
fierce  anger,  that  we  perish  not?  "  ^  Their  Confessions 
declared  "  that  nothing  can  befall  us  by  chance,  but 

^  The  fasts  of  the  Hebrews  present  four  characteristics:  (1)  The 
'*  Day  of  Atonement,"  expressing  a  religious  truth;  (2)  Periodical 
fasts,  certain  months,  commemorating  historical  events ;  (3)  Days  of 
private  humiliation ;  (4)  Occasional  fasts  ordered  by  proclamation  in 
public  calamities.  To  these  last  the  fathers  were  fond  of  referring. 
Thanksgiving  was  provided  for  by  their  "  offerings  of  thanksgiving," 
and  was  connected  with  the  three  great  festivals.  They  had  no  an- 
nual fast  or  thanksgiving  by  special  proclamation. 

^  Amos  iii.  6.  ^  Jonah  iiL  9. 


42  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

by  the  direction  of  our  most  gracious  and  heavenly 
Father,  who  watches  over  us  with  a  paternal  care, 
keeping  all  creatures  so  under  his  power  that  not  a 
hair  of  our  head  (for  they  are  all  numbered),  nor  a 
sparrow  can  fall  to  the  ground  without  the  will  of  our 
Father,  in  whom  we  do  entirely  trust,  being  persuaded 
that  he  so  restrains  the  Devil  and  all  our  enemies  that 
without  his  will  and  permission  they  cannot  hurt  us."  ^ 
But  it  was  rather  an  inference  from  this  belief  which 
exercised  such  sway  over  their  lives.  They  found  no 
place  for  the  discipline  of  chastening  love.  Regarding 
all  dire  happenings  as  punishments,  and  all  blessings 
as  approvals,  they  seem  to  have  thought  that  their 
moral  status  before  God  was  thus  written  out  in 
events.  They  connected  every  calamity  or  deliverance 
with  their  present  sin  or  virtue.  As  the  former  had 
a  particular  voice  of  warning,  and  the  latter  a  tes- 
timony of  forgiveness,  every  event  approached  them 
with  its  shadow  before  and  its  sunshine  afterward,  to 
be  recognized  by  fasting  and  thanksgiving.  It  is 
only  within  our  province  to  record  these  views,  which 
It  shed  such  a  lurid  light  over  the  early  history  of 
^  New  England.  To  suppose,  however,  that  they  were 
peculiar  to  our  fathers  is  a  grave  error.  They 
prevailed  throughout  the  Calvinistic  countries  of 
Europe,  and  were  productive  of  similar  feelings,  and 
to  some  extent  of  the  same  customs.  They  attained 
an  ascendency  in  the  mother  country,  and  wrought 
into  English  life  the  observance  of  special  fast  and 
thanksgiving  days  which  have  continued  into  the  pres- 
lent  century. 

^  Belgic  Confession  [1561]  and  Second  Helvetic  Confession  [1566]. 
See,  also,  the  Savoy  Symbol,  and  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith. 


IN  ENGLAND.  43 

From  the  year  1566,  when,  as  Neal  says,  "  the  era 
of  separation  "  began,  the  Non-conformists  had  been 
accustomed  to  gather  in  secret  conventicles  for  fasting 
and  prayer.  The  practice  was  known  to  the  royal 
authorities,  and  did  not  please  them.  The  logic  of 
such  a  reply  as  WiUiam  White  gave  they  did  not 
appreciate,  —  "  The  Ninevites  proclaimed  a  fast  before 
they  acquainted  the  king  with  it."  ^  Finally,  when  it 
was  learned  that  the  theme  of  their  fastings  was  the 
Queen  and  the  Church,  her  royal  Majesty  endeavored 
to  put  them  down.2  Their  advocacy  of  ^;2^6Zi'c  fasts 
and  thanksgivings  could  not  so  easily  be  hushed,  for 
such  days  had  ere  this  come  into  use  among  their 
opponents.  The  time  was  ripe  for  them.  Thereafter 
they  contended  as  earnestly  ^br  these  days  as  they  had 
against  saints'  days. 

We  have  met  with  no  statement  of  their  position, 
as  framed  by  the  later  Dissenters,  more  worthy  of  pre- 
eminence than  that  given  by  James  Peirce  in  his 
"  Vindication  of  the  Dissenters."  These  are  his  words : 
"  We  own  there  may  happen  new  occasions  of  solemn 
and  public  fasting  or  rejoicing;  for  which,  because 
they  concern  the  civil  state,  't  is  the  business  of  the 
magistrate  to  appoint  proper  days  and  times.  And 
he  only  can  command  all  his  subjects  to  observe  such 
fasts  or  thanksgivings  when  there  is  occasion  for  them. 
But  if  he  neglects  his  duty  and  does  not  appoint  such 
days,  when  'tis  manifest  to  aU  that  he  ought,  or  if, 
abusing  his  power,  he  orders  days  to  be  kept  to  a  bad 
purpose,  we  think  every  church  has  a  right  to  set 
apart  days  themselves,  or  to  forbear  to  observe  them 

1  Neal's  Hist,  of  Puritans,  i.  247. 

2  Ibid.,  i.  370. 


44  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

that  are  not  well  injoin'd."  ^  The  points  in  this 
author's  discussion  are  :  (1)  Blessings  that  belong  to 
all  Christians  need  no  stated  solenm  festival  besides 
the  Lord's  Day.  (2)  The  Lord  instituted  no  annual 
fasting  season  [Lent]  in  humiliation  for  ordinary  sins. 
(3)  "If  God  by  his  providence  testifies  his  displea- 
sure, or  if  anything  extraordinary  is  to  be  sought  with 
more  fervent  prayers,  these  are  new  and  special  occa- 
sions^ wherein  God  calls  us  to  public  fasting."  (4) 
The  Jews  had  such  occasion  in  the  Feast  of  Purim, 
as  England  has  in  the  5th  of  November,  but  they 
established  no  "  anniversary  solemnities  "  for  bless- 
ings which  were  before  the  setting  apart  of  a  partic- 
ular day.  (5)  These  special  fast  and  thanksgiving 
days  should  be  ordered  by  the  civil  authority.  It  will 
be  observed  by  the  careful  reader  that  these  principles 
constitute  a  fair  presumption  against  the  immediate 
appointment  of  annual  public  fasts  and  thanksgiv- 
ings by  the  early  settlers  of  New  England.  Their 
system  is  wrapped  up  in  the  phrase,  "  new  and  special 
occasions,"  or  in  the  Latin  they  employed,  "Pro  tem- 
poribus  et  causis." 

Let  us  now  turn  back  to  trace  the  development  of 
this  appointment  of  special  days.  The  practice  had 
prevailed  in  the  Roman  Empire,^  and  was  early  intro- 
duced into  England.     There  was  little  demand  for 

1  Peirce's  Vindication,  etc.,  ed.  1718,  p.  504.  The  author  here  refers 
to  his  letters  in  answer  to  Dr.  Wells,  from  which  he  quotes.  There 
the  phraseology  of  the  passage  is  slightly  different.  Memarks  on  Dr, 
Tre//s,ed.mO,  p.23. 

2  The  early  Christians  kept  such  days.  Bishops  named  them  within 
their  jurisdiction.  The  victory  of  Constantino  was  commemorated  at 
Constantinople  September  24 ;  and  at  Alexandria  July  21  was  kept 
in  gratitude  for  the  cessation  of  earthquakes,  etc.  Sozomen,  1.  6,  c. 
2  ;  Bingham,  Orig.  Ecc,  xx.  8,  3. 


IN  ENGLAND.  45 

them  before  the  Reformation,  though  the  fact  that 
the  Code  of  Canute,  A.  D.  1032,  specifies  ''  all  the  days 
upon  which  a  fast  should  be  proclaimed  by  due  au- 
thority" would  lead  us  to  suspect  their  occurrence. 
Indeed,  an  illustration  is  given  us  in  HoHnshed's 
"  Chronicles  "  of  a  fast  season  transpiring  during  the 
reign  of  Henry  III.,  A.  D.  1258  :  "  The  haruest  was 
verie  late  this  yeare  so  that  the  most  part  of  the  corne 
rotted  on  the  ground,  and  that  which  at  length  was 
got  in  remained  yet  abrode  till  after  Alhallowentide 
so  vntemperate  was  the  weather  with  excessiue  wet  and 
raine  beyond  all  measure.  Herevpon  the  dearth  so  in- 
creased that  euen  those  which  had  of  late  releeued 
other,  were  in  danger  to  starue  themselues.  Finallie 
solemne  fasts  and  generall  processions  were  made  in 
diuerse  places  of  the  realme  to  appease  God's  wrath, 
and  (as  it  was  thought)  their  praiers  were  heard,  for 
the  weather  partlie  amended  and  by  reason  the  same 
serued  to  get  in  some  such  come  as  was  not  lost,  the 
price  thereof  in  the  market  fell  halfe  in  halfe.  A 
good  and  memorable  motiue  that  in  such  extremities 
as  are  aboue  the  reach  of  man  to  redresse,  we  shoidd 
by  and  by  haue  recourse  to  him  that  can  giue  a  rem- 
edie  against  euery  casualty,  for  Flectitur  iratus  voce 
rogante  Deus^  ^  After  the  battle  of  Poictiers  the 
king  "  took  speedy  order,  by  Simon,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  that  a  thanksgiving  should  be  celebrated 
all  over  England  for  eight  days  together."  ^  Yet  such 
seasons  were  exceptional.  The  Catholic  Church  did 
not  foster  them.  During  the  last  years  of  Henry  VIII., 
however,  prayers  in  the  English  tongue  coming  into 

1  Holinshed's  Chronicles,  ii.  449. 

2  Har.  Miscellany^  viii.  174. 


46  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

use,  they  were  frequently  ordered  to  be  said  in  the 
churches,  accompanied  by  processions.  In  August, 
1543,  the  plentiful  crop  of  corn  was  threatened  by 
excessive  rain,  and  so  great  was  the  danger  that  the 
king  sent  letters  to  Archbishop  Cranmer  "  to  appoint 
certain  prayers  to  be  used  for  the  ceasing  of  rain." 
Strype  tells  us  that  the  same  practice  was  twice  em- 
ployed the  next  year,  when  "  occasional  prayers  and 
suffrages  to  be  used  throughout  the  churches  begun  to 
be  more  usual  than  formerly."  ^  One  instance  was  for 
a  peace,  the  other  upon  going  to  war.  During  the 
first  year  of  King  Edward's  reign,  on  account  of  the 
victory  over  the  Scots,  a  public  thanksgiving  was  cele- 
brated. In  the  order  of  the  Archbishop  to  the  Bishop 
of  London  the  latter  is  required  "  to  cause  a  sermon  to 
be  made  in  his  cathedral  .  .  .  declaring  the  goodness 
of  God  .  .  .  and  giving  thanks  for  the  victory,  but  also 
at  the  same  time,  immediately  after  the  sermon  and 
in  presence  of  the  Mayor,  Aldermen  and  other  citizens 
of  London,  to  cause  the  procession  in  English  and  Te 
Deum  to  be  openly  and  devoutly  sung."  ^  That  same 
year  a  fast  was  proclaimed  in  London  on  account  of  the 
rising  in  Yorkshire.^  Such  seasons  were  then  generally 
kept  on  the  day  of  some  festival,  if  convenient.  They 
found  favor  also  in  the  eyes  of  Queen  Mary,  though 
she  restored  the  Catholic  calendar ;  and  it  would  seem 
that  upon  one  occasion  greater  thanks  were  given  than 
the  subject  demanded,  as  she  died  without  children.  ^ 
In  1563  London  was  visited  by  a  plague.    Days  of 

1  Strype,  Cranmer,  pp.  181-183. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  218-220 ;  Parker  Soc,  Works  of  Cranmer,  Remains,  p. 
417. 

2  Burnet's  Hist,  of  Beformation,  ed.  1865,  ii.  213. 
*  Camden  Soc,  Diary  of  Henry  Machyn,  pp.  18,  76,  341 ;  Strype, 
Ecc.  Mem.,  iii.  1.  324,  325. 


IN  ENGLAND.  47 

fasting  were  appointed,  Mondays  and  Wednesdays,  to 
continue  until  some  abatement  of  the  disease,  which 
could  not  be  observed  by  great  gatherings  as  com- 
monly, for  fear  of  contagion.  The  food  saved  was  be- 
stowed upon  the  poor  in  the  back  lanes  and  alleys  of 
the  city.  In  certain  correspondence  on  the  subject, 
several  questions  were  raised  which  indicate  that  this 
custom  of  occasional  appointment  by  royal  proclama- 
tion might  not  have  been  then  fully  established.  For 
instance :  "  In  what  form  is  the  fast  to  be  authorized, 
—  whether  by  proclamation  or  by  way  of  injunction 
or  otherwise,  because  it  must  needs  pass  from  the 
Queen  ?  "  "  Whether  any  penalty  is  to  be  prescribed 
to  the  violators  thereof?"^  But,  not  to  multiply 
instances  beyond  necessity,  Ehzabeth  maintained  and 
strengthened  the  usage,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  peru- 
sal of  her  "  forms  of  prayer."  ^ 

The  discovery  of  the  Gunpowder  Plot  in  1605 
brought  out  the  common  sentiment.  A  diabolical 
scheme  had  been  formed  —  it  was  thought  by  the 
Papists  —  to  blow  up  the  Parliament  House  on  the 
5th  of  November,  the  first  day  of  the  session.  Vast 
quantities  of  gunpowder  and  inflammable  material 
were  found  concealed  in  the  vaults  underneath.  The 
traitors  were  arrested  and  executed.^  In  consequence 
of  this  deliverance  the  day  was  ordered  to  be  kept  as 
a  ''  public  thanksgiving  to  Almighty  God  "  every  year, 
''  that  unfeigned  thankfulness  may  never  be  forgotten, 

1  Strype,  Parker,  i.  263-268;    Grindal,  pp.  105,  106. 

2  Parker  Soc.,  Prayers  of  Elizabeth.  The  Thanksgiving  Book  was  a 
collection  of  prayers  for  the  thanksgiving  day.  Notes  and  Queries, 
Ist  ser.  iii.  328,  481. 

3  Knight's  Hist,  of  England ,  chap.  Ixxxi. ;  Fuller's  Chh.  Hist.,  iii. 
212-219;  Neal's  Hist,  of  Puritans,  ii.  52-54. 


48  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

and  that  all  ages  to  come  may  yield  praises  to  God's 
divine  Majesty  for  the  same."  All  ministers  were  or- 
dered to  say  prayers  thereon,  for  which  special  forms 
were  for  many  years  provided,  and  the  people  were 
commanded  to  attend  worship.  Thomas  Fuller,  writ- 
ing years  afterwards,  expressed  a  regret  that  this  "  red- 
letter  day"  had  fallen  into  decay.  But  throughout 
most  of  the  term  of  the  exodus  to  New  England  it 
was  generally  esteemed,  except  by  the  Papists,  and 
esteemed,  too,  by  some  who  were  abused  at  its  ser- 
vices.i  The  custom  of  burning  at  night  the  image  of 
Guy  Fawkes  the  conspirator,  which  had  been  paraded 
through  the  streets  during  the  day  by  boys  who 
begged  and  sang,  was  continued  in  England  to  within 
a  century :  — 

"  Pray  to  remember 
The  fifth  of  November, 
Gunpowder  treason  and  plot, 
When  the  King  and  his  train 
Had  nearly  been  slain, 
Therefore  it  shall  not  be  forgot." 

This  annual  thanksgiving,  together  with  the  one  es- 
tablished later  on  the  29th  of  May,  was  abolished  in 
1833,  though  both  had  previously  fallen  into  disuse. 
Both  were  recognized  in  New  England,  to  some  extent 
among  the  Congregationalists,  but  chiefly  in  the  Epis- 
copal Church  on  account  of  their  place  in  the  calendar. 

^  The  prayer  for  the  day  had  this  inspiring  petition:  *'  Root  out 
that  Anti-christian  and  Babylonish  sect  which  say  of  Jerusalem, 
Down  with  it  even  to  the  ground.  Cut  off  those  workers  of  Iniquity, 
whose  Religion  is  Rebellion,  whose  Faith  is  Faction,  whose  Practice 
is  murdering  both  Soul  and  Body."  In  1633  this  was  altered  by  the 
archbishop  so  as  to  turn  it  against  the  Puritans  (Neal,  ii.  254).  "  On 
the  5th  of  November  we  as  well  as  the  Churchmen  bless  God  for  our 
deliverance  from  the  Gunpowder  Plot."— Peirce's  Vindication,  etc.,  p. 
505. 


IN  ENGLAND.  49 

It  will  be  well  now,  though  we  have  reached  the 
time  when  emigration  to  the  New  World  began,  to  fol- 
low the  practice,  especially  during  the  Commonwealth, 
which  history  runs  parallel  with  the  early  days  of 
New  England.  It  had  a  development  of  its  own. 
Under  James  and  Charles  I.  it  retained  its  public 
and  civil  character,  the  number  of  such  occasions  in-  "^ 
creasing  somewhat.  But  when  the  Puritans  obtained 
control  of  affairs  it  was  as  though  the  incarcerated 
fasts  and  thanksgivings  of  centuries  had  been  loosed.^ 
Upon  any  appearance  of  public  danger  they  woidd 
hasten  to  order  a  fast.  They  not  only  abolished  fes- 
tivals, and  burned  the  "  Book  of  Sports  "  in  public 
places,  but  also  commanded  the  constables  on  fasts  to 
seek  out  persons  at  work,  that  they  might  be  prose- 
cuted for  contempt.  In  1643  they  established  stated 
monthly  fasts  on  the  last  Wednesday  of  each  month, 
which  they  continued  until  1649,  when  an  act  was 
passed  to  "  take  away  the  monthly  fasts,"  and  have 
only  those  on  particidar  occasions,  which  indeed  they 
had  all  along  observed.  This  monthly  custom  we 
meet  with  in  New  England.  It  happened  in  1644 
that  the  monthly  fast  of  December  feU  on  the  25th, 
and  every  person  was  obliged  to  choose  which  God  he 
woidd  serve.  The  Parliament  chose  the  montlily  fast, 
which  created  no  little  uproar  among  the  people.^ 
Upon  these  days  the  "  Solemn  League  and  Covenant " 

^  We  have  reckoned  more  than  a  hundred  public  fasts  during  the 
Commonwealth  period.  Proclamations  in  broadside  for  some  of  these 
are  extant.  Scores  of  sermons  are  met  with  preached  by  Puritan 
ministers  on  these  occasions. 

^  Hence  Macaulay's  remark,  "They  changed  Christmas  into  a  fast." 
See  Neal,  iii.  167-169.  Christmas  in  1647  they  made  a  fast,  which 
nearly  caused  a  riot  in  London.     IbicL,  iii.  423, 424. 


50  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

was  usually  read  in  the  public  assembly,  which  met  at 
nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  continued  until  four  in 
the  afternoon.  In  1643  the  king  made  proclamation 
against  them,  but  it  availed  nothing. ^  Fasts  and 
thanksgivings  were  the  order  of  the  day.  They 
fasted  for  atheism  in  the  army,  gave  thanks  for 
the  suppression  of  the  Levelers,  and  the  Parliament 
became  a  veritable  proclamation  machine.  It  was  a 
fine  bit  of  irony,  expressed  on  a  slip  dropped  about 
Co  vent  Garden  May  15,  1648,  referring  to  a  thanks- 
giving for  success  in  Wales,  "observed,"  says  White- 
locke,  "  by  the  houses  but  not  much  in  the  city."  "  O 
yes !  O  yes !  O  yes  !  If  any  manner  of  man  in  city 
town  or  country  can  tell  tidings  of  a  Thanksgiving 
to  be  kept  the  17th  Day  of  this  present  month  of 
May,  by  order  of  the  Commons  assembled  at  West- 
minster, let  him  come  to  the  cryer  and  he  shall  be 
hanged  for  his  pains."  ^ 

Let  no  one  suppose  that  their  thanksgivings  were 
altogether  famished  ajBfairs.  Feasting  had  always 
been  associated  more  or  less  with  such  rejoicings.  It 
was,  at  least  sometimes,  a  feature  of  these  English 
days.  Whitelocke  gives  some  account  of  a  feast  June 
7,  1649,  when  the  House  of  Commons  was  entertained 
by  the  city  fathers.  After  hearing  two  sermons  they 
went  to   Grocers'  HaU,  where,  after  some   delay  in 

1  Neal,  in.  44, 45. 

2  Notes  and  Queries,  4tli  ser.  ix.  p.  202.    The  following  lines  axe 
given  in  Hudibras :  — 

"  For  Hudibras,  who  thought  he  had  won 
The  field,  as  certain  as  a  gun, 
And  having  routed  the  whole  troop 
With  victory  was  cock-a-hoop. 
Thinking  he  had  done  enough  to  purchase 
Thanksgiving  day  among  the  churches." 

Pt.  i.  canto  3,  lines  11-16.    See,  also,  Pt.  iii.  canto  3,  line  287. 


IN  ENGLAND,  51 

choosing  the  lowest  seats,  they  were  sumptuously  fed 
to  the  music  of  drums  and  trumpets,  and  the  fragments 
were  sufficient  to  cheer  many  of  the  poor  of  London. 

The  Westminster  "  Directory  for  Public  Worship  " 
gives  us  a  lucid  account  of  what  was  expected  in  the 
way  of  religious  exercises.  The  early  hours  of  the 
fast  day  were  to  be  occupied  by  each  family  in  "  pre- 
paring their  hearts  for  the  solemn  work  of  the  day." 
They  must  be  "  early  at  the  Congregation "  and 
clothed  in  no  "  rich  apparel  or  ornaments."  There  a 
large  portion  of  the  day  was  to  be  spent  in  reading 
and  preaching  the  word,  singing  of  psalms,  and 
especially  in  prayer,  that  it  might  be  a  day  of  "  afflict- 
ing the  soul."  Before  the  close  the  minister  was  "  in 
his  own  and  the  people's  names  to  ingage  his  and  their 
hearts  to  be  the  Lord's  with  professed  purpose  and 
resolution  to  reform  whatever  is  amiss  among  them ;  " 
and  he  was  also  to  admonish  them  as  to  the  fui^ther 
private  duties  of  the  day.  The  thanksgiving  day 
was  much  the  same  in  its  worship.  The  congregation 
were  first  to  have  some  ''  pithy  narration  of  the 
deliverance  obtained  or  mercy  received,"  and,  after 
sermon,  psalm-singing,  and  prayer,  they  were  to  be 
dismissed  with  a  blessing,  that  "  convenient  time 
might  be  had  for  their  repast  and  refreshing."  But 
the  minister  should  not  forget  to  admonish  them  to 
"  beware  of  all  excess  and  riot  tending  to  gluttony  or 
drunkenness "  in  their  feasts.  At  both  fasts  and 
thanksgivings  collections  were  to  be  taken  for  the  / 
poor,  in  which  the  Puritans  were  never  negligent. 

Such  were  the  days  observed  in  England  about 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  They  did  not 
differ  materially  from  those  proclaimed  in  New  England. 


52  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

t  There  was  neither  an  annual  fast  nor  an  annual 
thanksgiving,  a  fact  which  should  have  great  weight 
in  discussing  the  customs  of  our  forefathers. 

But  this  system  of  holy  days  soon  became  over- 
weighted in  England,  as  the  Christian  calendar  had 
been,  and  it  suffered  a  reaction,  with  the  Puritan 
government  which  established  it.  The  "  Merry 
Christmas,"  the  amusements  which  for  centuries  had 
clustered  round  the  May-pole,  and,  also, — for  we 
should  not  hesitate  to  concede  it,  —  the  deep  rehgious 
reverence  that  some  had  for  the  truth  declared  by 
festivals  commemorating  the  Lord's  life,  —  all  these 
forces  at  last  rose  among  the  English  people  and 
swept  away  the  structure,  leaving  only  a  lone  pillar 
standing,  like  the  5th  of  November,  and  occasional 
days  at  intervals.  It  can  truly  be  said  that  when  the 
29th  of  May,  1660,  came,  —  a  day  destined  to  be  kept 
among  them  more  as  a  farewell  to  the  Puritan  than  a 
thanksgiving  for  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.,  —  and 
the  royal  pageant,  with  prancing  steeds  so  gayly  man- 
tled and  ridden  by  such  richly  robed  knights,  moved 
through  the  streets  of  London,  the  people  were 
heartily  joyful.  The  citizens  as  weU  as  the  king 
were  ready  to  laugh  at  the  new  sign  which  on  that 
day  is  said  to  have  adorned  that  famous  hostelry  in 
Fleet  Street,  where  Tom  D'Urfey,  the  Killegrews, 
Davenant,  Matt  Barlowe,  Ingoldsby,  and  Isaac  Wal- 
ton are  represented  as  holding  high  carnival,  —  a  sign 
in  which  mine  host  had  the  part  of  St.  Dunstan,  and 
held  the  Puritan  Prynne  in  the  array  of  his  Satanic 
Majesty  by  the  nose.^     The  case  was  quite  otherwise 

1  An  interesting  account  of  the  affair  and  the  place,  famous  evea 
in  Shakespeare's  time,  the  meeting-place  of  Ben  Jonson's  club,  is 
found  in  Ephraim  Hardcastle's  The  Twenty-ninth  of  May. 


IN  ENGLAND,  53 

with  the  Puritans  who  had  followed  the  Pilgrims  to 
New  England.  They  brought  with  them  the  customs 
of  their  time,  holy  days  observed  in  all  sincerity,  and 
found  a  hostile  wilderness,  where,  with  no  attractions 
toward  the  festivals  they  detested,  they  were  to  estab- 
lish their  humiliations,  as  the  summons  for  divine 
assistance  in  dire  straits,  and  sing  their  psalms  of 
praise  over  mighty  deliverances  and  the  coveted  har- 
vests enticed  from  the  virgin  soiL 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   FASTS   OF   THE   EXILES. 

/ 

1595-1620. 

The  early  history  of  the  Separatists  is  written  in 
the  experiences  of  individual  congregations.  The 
ancient  oak  which  had  been  so  shaken  by  the  storm 
was  surrounded  by  shoots  of  ecclesiastical  life,  spring- 
ing into  a  vigorous  development  from  the  seed  that 
had  been  scattered  abroad.  Those  which  now  come 
under  our  view  are  the  exiled  churches  at  Amsterdam 
and  Leyden,  —  that  over  which  Francis  Johnson  was 
pastor  and  Henry  Ainsworth  teacher,  which  had 
emigrated  from  London  to  Amsterdam  about  1595 ; 
the  second  English  church  which  had  gone  thither  from 
Gainsborough,  under  the  leadership  of  John  Smyth, 
about  1606  ;  and  the  Scrooby  church,  of  John  Robin- 
son, which  removed  to  Amsterdam  in  April,  1608, 
and  shortly  afterwards  was  established  at  Leyden. 
With  these  we  may  associate  the  independent  church 
at  Southwark,  England,  which  would  agree  with  them 
in  its  practices ;  and  this  church  has  special  interest 
because  its  first  pastor,  Henry  Jacob,  is  known  to 
have  adopted  the  ideas  of  John  Robinson,  and  his 
successor,  John  Lothrop,  was  afterward  the  minister 
at  Scituate  and  Barnstable  in  the  Plymouth  Colony, 
whose  church  records  have  an  important  bearing  upon 
the  subject. 

It  is  essential  to  ascertain  what  were  the  customs 


THE  FASTS   OF  THE  EXILES.  55 

of  the  Scrooby  exiles  in  order  to  determine  what  the 
early  practices  were  at  Plymouth.  The  earliest  of 
the  Separatists  had  maintained  an  existence  in  Eng- 
land for  years,  and  had  emigrated  to  Holland  before 
the  development  of  fast  and  thanksgiving  days  into 
a  popular  system.  So  far  back  as  the  time  of 
Robert  Browne,  the  founder  of  Brownism,  they  seem 
to  have  taken  up  with  the  keeping  of  such  days. 
This  worthy  wrote  of  his  little  congregation  at  Nor- 
wich :  "  They  particularlie  agreed  .  .  .  for  appointing 
publick  humbling  in  more  rare  iudgementes  and  pub- 
lick  thankesgiuing  in  straunger  blessinges."  ^  In  this 
they  were  carrying  out  the  Second  Helvetic  Confes- 
sion, which  declared  tliat  "  there  are  also  public  fasts 
api>ointed  in  tunes  of  affliction  and  calamity,  when 
people  abstain  from  food  altogether  till  evening.  .  .  . 
Such  fasts  are  mentioned  by  the  Prophets  and  should 
be  observed."  They  were  also  the  religious  legatees 
of  Field  and  Wilcocks.  In  their  Confession  they  had 
said :  "  Concerning  publicke  f astes  wee  hold  that  they 
are  so  often  to  be  had  and  kept  as  the  consideration 
of  time  and  the  present  calamitie  hanging  ouer  our 
heax^ls,  and  due  for  our  sinnes,  shall  require:  and 
wee  thinke  it  most  meete  that  these  fasts  be  generally 
and  vniversally  appointed,  either  by  the  authoritie  of 
goodly  magistrates  or  particular  Presbyteries  and 
Churches."  2  It  is  believed  that  Browne  has  refer- 
ence to  observances  among  themselves,  appointed  as 
the  need  of  his  company  woidd  suggest.  They  were 
public  but  not  civil  fasts  and  thanksgivings,  —  days 

^   A  True  and  Short  Declaration,  etc.,  p.  20. 

2  A  Parte  of  a  Register,  p.  537.  See,  also,  An  Answer  for  the  tyme, 
etc.,  p.  74. 


56  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

for  assembling  the  congregation/  Throughout  the  his- 
tory of  these  Separatists  in  Holland,  the  individual 
church  determined  what  days  should  be  kept.  Recog- 
nizing it  as  the  source  of  authority,  this  was  only 
putting  the  principle  into  operation.  At  the  same 
time  they  may  have  paid  a  respect  to  any  days  ap- 
pointed by  the  civil  authorities.  It  would  not  have 
been  inconsistent  with  their  teachings. 

It  will  be  well  to  state  here  that  the  Reformed 
churches  of  Holland,  under  whose  influence  they 
came,  were  mainly  in  accord  with  the  customs  of  the 
Church  of  England.  The  trend  of  their  reformation 
had  been  Calvinistic,  but  they  had  not  wholly  rejected 
holy  days.  .  Catholic  and  Lutheran  opinions  had 
greatly  modified  their  tendencies,  which  were  toward 
the  adoption  of  the  "  Feasts  of  Christ "  approved  by 
the  Helvetic  Confession.  These  became  high  festivals 
among  them,  but  not  to  the  exclusion  of  all  saints' 
days.  In  the  ecclesiastical  laws  published  by  William 
of  Orange  in  1577  he  specially  honored  Christmas, 
Easter,  and  Whitsuntide.  But  the  Dutch  provincial 
synods  had  not  discussed  the  subject,  and  hence  many 
of  the  old  practices  prevailed.  The  Reformed  de- 
spised the  Catholic  observances,  but  on  the  other  hand 
they  venerated  the  more  prominent  festivals,  and  held 
services  and  suspended  business  upon  them.^  At  a 
later  period  they  even  ejected  those  who  refused  to 
conform  to  this  practice  of  the  Dutch  Church.2 

We  have  no  details  of  fast  and  thanksgiving  days 
at   Amsterdam,  but,  after   the   exposition   given   in 

^  Brandt's  Hist,  of  the  Reformation  in  the  Low  Countries,  ed.  1720, 
ii.  10,  12,  14. 

2  Steven's  Hist,  of  the  Scottish  Church  in  Botterdam,  p.  72  n.  See, 
also,  p.  339. 


THE  FASTS   OF  THE  EXILES,  57 

the  previous  chapters  of  the  views  current,  we  cannot 
but  conclude  that  they  had  such.  Henry  Ainsworth 
gives  us  something  of  his  opinion  in  his  "  Arrow 
against  Idolatrie."  He  evidently  had  little  regard 
for  saints'  days.  He  says :  "  Again  he  [Jeroboam] 
forged  but  one  feast  out  of  his  owne  heart  to  make 
mery  with  his  images  once  in  a  year  :  whereas  this  our 
purple  Queen  hath  made  many  moe  holy  dayes  then 
ther  be  monethes  (that  I  say  not  weeks)  of  the  yere, 
in  honour  of  her  Ladie  and  all  her  Saincts,  and  these 
some  of  them  correspondent  to  the  paynim  festivities, 
as  Christmas,  Candlemas,  Fasgon  or  Shrovetide,  ac- 
cording to  the  times  and  customes  of  the  gentiles 
Satumal,  Febiiial  and  Bacchus  feasts."  ^  He  further 
urges  that  there  is  no  other  than  heathen  example  J 
for  observing  Christmas  December  25,  since  Christ 
was  born  in  September  rather  than  December. 

There  is  another  item  of  interest  concerning  this 
church  at  Amsterdam.  About  the  time  of  Robinson's 
arrival  there,  he  had  received  a  letter  from  Rev.  Jo- 
seph Hall,  afterward  the  Bishop  of  Norwich.  It  was 
addressed  to  "  Mr.  Smyth  and  Mr.  Robinson,  Ring- 
leaders  of  the  late  Separation  at  Amsterdam."  In 
Robinson's  reply,  entitled  "An  Answer  to  a  Censo- 
rious Epistle,"  he  had  said  :  "  Though  you  have  lost 
the  shrines  of  saints,  yet  you  retain  their  days,  and 
those  holy  as  the  Lord's-day  and  that  with  good  profit 
to  your  spiritual  carnal  courts,  from  such  as  profane 
them  with  the  least  and  most  lawful  labour,  notwith- 
standing the  liberty  of  the  six  days'  labour  which  the 
Lord  hath  given.  And  as  much  would  the  masters 
of  these  courts  be  stirred  at  the  casting  of  these 
^  An  Arrow.,  etc.,  ed.  1640,  p.  156. 


58  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

saints'  days  out  of  the  calendar,  as  were  the  '  mas- 
ters '  of  the  possessed  maid  when  '  the  spirit  of  divi- 
nation '  was  cast  out  of  her.  Acts  xvi.  19."  ^  To 
this  Hall  responded  in  "  A  Common  Apologie  of  the 
Church  of  England,"  saying :  "  You  equally  condemne 
those  dales  of  Christ's  birth.  Ascension,  Circumcision, 
Resurrection,  Annunciation,  which  the  church  hath 
beyond  all  memory  celebrated ;  "  and  he  adds  this  im- 
portant item :  "  Your  owne  Synagogue  at  Amsterdame 
(if  we  may  beleeue  your  owne)  is  not  altogether  guilt- 
less :  your  hands  are  still  and  your  shoppes  shut  vpon 
festiuall  dales."  ^  This  charge  may  quite  likely  have 
been  true.  Their  shops  may  have  been  closed  on 
festival  days  in  accordance  with  the  Dutch  custom  and 
law,  but  from  no  esteem  for  the  occasions.  We  may 
fairly  conclude  that  Ainsworth's  flock,  as  they  rejected 
saints'  days,  adopted  the  practice  of  church  fasts  and 
thanksgivings. 

As  to  the  company  under  the  care  of  John  Smyth, 
quite  distinct  from  the  former,^  if  the  citation  already 
given  refers  to  them  it  sufficiently  determines  their 
position  ;  and  if  not,  we  may  infer  their  agreement,  as 
the  point  does  not  appear  among  the  "  Differences  of 
the  Churches  of  the  Separation,"  which  Smyth  pub- 
lished in  1608.4 

At  a  later  date  there  were  other  foreign  churches 
in  Holland,  and  these  all  had  fasts  and  thanksgiv- 
ings. ^     The  Scottish  Church  at  Rotterdam  kept  pace 

^  Robinson's  Works,  iii.  413. 
^  A  Common  Apologie,  etc.,  p.  100. 

8  The  True  Story  of  John  Smyth,  etc.,  Henry  M.  Dexter,  p.  2  n.  Cf. 
Congregationalism  as  seen  in  its  Literature,  pp.  312  n.,  313. 
4  i6ic/.,pp.  313,  314. 
^  Steven's  Hist,  of  the  Scottish  Church,  etc.,  pp.  15,  48  n.,  66,  85,  91, 


THE  FASTS   OF  THE  EXILES,  59 

with  the  customs  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland,  appointing 
days  on  account  of  the  "  commotions  in  Scotland  and 
England."  In  1666  the  Enghsh  churches  are  found 
keeping  monthly  fasts,  and  also  appointing  thanksgiv- 
ings. We  are  particularly  interested  in  one  of  these 
churches, — that  at  Rotterdam, — because  Hugh  Peter, 
later  at  Salem,  was  the  minister  in  1623,  and  Thomas 
Hooker,  the  founder  of  the  Connecticut  Colony,  was 
there  for  a  short  time  associated  with  William  Ames. 
Together  Ames  and  Hooker  brought  out  the  volume 
entitled  "  A  Fresh  Svit  Against  Humane  Ceremo- 
nies in  God's  Worship,"  and  in  this  the  matter  is 
clearly  stated.  They  commended  Bullinger's  ap- 
proval of  "  holy  days  and  fast  days,"  "  imderstanding 
onely  by  holy  days  set  times  of  preaching  and  praying ; 
and  by  days  of  fasting,  occasional  times  of  extraordi- 
narie  humiliation.  "  i  Let  us  compare  this  with  what 
Henry  Jacob,  minister  of  the  Southwark  church,  wrote 
seventeen  years  before  in  his  "  Confession  and  Pro- 
testation of  the  Faith  of  certain  Christians  in  Eng- 
land." "  Days  of  Thanksgiving  or  Fasting,"  he  says, 
"  which  by  men  are  appointed  upon  some  special  occa- 
sion and  are  to  be  used  accordingly,  —  in  no  wise 
constantly  and  continually,  —  we  approve  and  allow 
as  having  warrant  from  the  Spirit  of  God  both  in  the 
Law  and  in  the  Gospel."  ^  Here  is  agreement  upon 
the  system  of  occasional  appointments,  and  we  may 

04,  273,  303,  304.  The  custom  of  having  a  fast  in  connection  with 
the  choice  of  church  officers  was  observed  in  Johnson^s  church  in 
1598.  It  was  general  among  these  churches.  A  fast  day  was  kept 
when  the  Southwark  church  was  formed.  The  same  practices  were 
set  up  in  New  England. 

1  A  Fresh  Svit,  etc.,  p.  142. 

2  Hanbury's  Historical  Memorials,  ed.  1839,  i.  300. 


60  FAST  AND  THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

conclude  that  Peter  and  Hooker  and  Lothrop  brought 
that  system  and  no  other  to  New  England. 

In  1609  John  Robinson  and  the  Scrooby  church 
removed  to  Leyden.  We  follow  them  thither;  and, 
before  considering  the  special  fasts  of  which  we  have 
record,  we  summarize  Robinson's  teachings  upon  the 
points  hitherto  reviewed.  Such,  we  may  be  assured, 
were  the  sentiments  entertained  by  the  Pilgrims.  He 
taught:  (1)  The  sanctiiication  of  the  Lord's  Day,  based 
upon  the  commandment,  Christ  being  the  authority 
for  the  change  of  day.  (2)  The  church  has  no  suf- 
ficient authority  for  keeping  saints'  days,  and  compell- 
ing abstinence  from  labor  thereon.  (3)  "  It  seem- 
eth  not  without  all  leaven  of  superstition  that  the 
Dutch  reformed  churches  do  observe  certain  days 
consecrated  as  holy  to  the  nativity,  resurrection  and 
ascension  of  Christ,  and  the  same  also  .  .  .  much 
more  holy  than  the  Lord's  day."  (4)  The  keeping 
of  Lent  is  not  enjoined  in  the  Scriptures.  (5)  God 
exercises  a  providential  care  over  men  in  ordering 
events,  and  therefore  prayer  and  thanksgiving  are 
appropriate  either  in  private  or  "  according  to  the 
churches  present  occasionJ^  ^  It  is  remarkable  that 
throughout  his  writings  there  is  almost  nothing  said 
of  fasting  as  a  spiritual  exercise.  The  ideas  so  prev- 
alent elsewhere  in  his  time  are  conspicuously  absent. 
Henry  Ainsworth  expresses  his  mind  most  emphati- 
cally against  "  pining  the  body  with  too  much  fasting 
or  evill  fare."  ^  Robinson's  phrase  is,  days  of  "  prayer 
and  thanksgiving."     Both  undoubtedly  fasted,  not  for 

1  Robinson's  Works,  i.  200,  201;  ii.  268,  269,399;  452-456,504; 
iii.  43-54,  104,  105,  126. 

2  The  Orthodox  Foundation,  etc.,  p.  72. 


THE  FASTS  OF  THE  EXILES.  61 

any  merit  in  so  doing,  but  for  the  furtherance  of  fer- 
vent prayer. 

When  at  last,  after  years  spent  in  Leyden,  that 
most  charming  city  of  Holland,  the  Scrooby  congrega- 
tion began  to  feel  the  force  of  "  sundrie  weightie  & 
sohd  reasons"  for  emigration  to  a  new  land,  they 
were  moved  to  fasting  and  prayer  for  Divine  guidance. 
Winslow  intimates  that  these  occasions  were  frequent, 
but  we  have  no  knowledge  of  more  than  three.  The 
first  seems  to  have  been  in  the  autumn  of  1617,  when 
the  question  of  removal  came  to  a  public  discussion 
among  them.  The  account  of  Winslow  is  as  follows  : 
"  At  the  length  the  Lord  was  solenmly  sought  in  the 
congregation  by  fasting  and  prayer  to  direct  us,  who 
moving  our  hearts  more  and  more  to  the  work,  we 
sent  some  of  good  abilities  over  into  England  to  see 
what  favor  or  acceptance  such  a  thing  might  find 
with  the  King."  ^  The  words  of  Bradford  are  less 
definite  as  to  the  fasting.  He  says :  "  After  thir  hum- 
ble praiers  unto  God  for  his  direction  &  assistance 
&  a  generall  conference  held  hear  aboute,  they  con- 
sulted what  particuler  place  to  pitch  upon  &  prepare 
for."  2  It  is  probable  that  this  conference  filled  the 
latter  part  of  a  fast  day ;  if  so,  Bradford  has  left  an 
ample  account  to  associate  with  the  occasion. 

The  second  fast  day  was  upon  the  prospect  of  their 
departure.  This  is  commonly  placed  in  1620,  though 
the  delay  which  they  experienced  afterward  makes 
the  latter  part  of  1619  seem  more  probable.  It  then 
became  necessary  to  decide  who  should  go,  that  such 

1  Winslow's    "  Brief  Narration "   in  Young's  Chronicles,  pp.  380, 
382. 

2  Bradford's  Hist,  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  p.  27. 


62  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

might  prepare  themselves.  "  They  had,"  says  Brad- 
ford, "  a  soUemne  meeting  and  a  day  of  humiliation 
to  seeke  y®  Lord  for  his  direction:  and  their  pastor 
tooke  his  texte,  1  Sam.  23  :  3,  4.  '  And  David's  men 
said  unto  him,  see,  we  be  afraid  hear  in  Judah,  how 
much  more  if  we  come  to  Keilah  against  y®  host  of 
the  Philistines  ?  Then  David  asked  counsell  of  y® 
Lord  againe,'  &c.  From  which  texte  he  taught  many 
things  very  aptly,  and  befitting  ther  present  occasion 
and  condition,  strengthing  them  against  their  fears  and 
perplexities,  and  incouraging  them  in  their  resolu- 
tions." ^  The  religious  services  were  followed  by  a 
general  consultation  as  to  the  future.  It  was  then 
decided  that  the  pastor,  Robinson,  should  remain  at 
Leyden,  and  the  elder  Brewster  go  with  the  Pil- 
grims, and  such  as  would  were  chosen  for  the  elder's 
company.  It  must  indeed  have  been  a  sorrowful 
day. 

The  third  fast  was  their  farewell.  After  many 
debates  and  delays  the  time  was  at  hand.  It  was  the 
year  1620,  the  month  of  July,  when,  "  being  ready  to 
depart,  they  had  a  day  of  sollemne  humihation."  Tak- 
ing all  the  circumstances  into  account,  we  conclude 
that  this  was  the  day  before  they  left  Leyden,  which 
was  the  21st.  They  would  hardly  make  the  journey 
to  Delf  shaven  in  a  Dutch  canal-boat  during  the  night, 
nor  do  we  suppose  they  started  on  the  fast  day.  The 
religious  services,  according  to  general  custom,  were 
prolonged.  Bradford  says  the  pastor  took  for  his 
text  Ezra  viii.  21 :  "  And  ther  at  y®  river,  by  Ahava, 
I  proclaimed  a  fast,  that  we  might  humble  ourselves 
before  our  God,  and  seeke  of  him  a  right  way  for 

1  Bradford's  Hist.f  pp.  41,42 ;  Winslow  in  Young's  Chron.,  p.  383. 


THE  FASTS   OF  THE  EXILES.  63 

us,  and  for  our  children,  and  for  all  our  substance." 
"Upon  which  he  spente  a  good  parte  of  y^  (Jay  very  ^/ 
profitably  and  suitable  to  their  presente  occasion. 
The  rest  of  the  time  was  spente  in  powering  out 
prairs  to  y^  Lord  with  great  fervencie,  mixed  with 
abundance  of  tears."  ^  Winslow  corroborates  Brad- 
ford's suggestion  of  further  exercises  of  prayer  by  his 
words:  "The  brethren  that  stayed  having  again  sol- 
emnly sought  the  Lord  with  us  and  for  us,  and  we 
further  engaging  ourselves  mutually  as  before,"  etc.  ^ 
Possibly  it  was  at  this  informal  conference  after  the 
service  that  Robinson  delivered  to  them  the  address 
which  Winslow  recalled  after  the  lapse  of  more  than 
twenty-five  years.^  Thus  throughout  most  of  the  day 
they  fasted,  pursuing  their  religious  exercises  and  cele- 
brating the  Lord's  Supper,  as  their  custom  was  ;  but 
at  the  close  of  the  services,  having  covenanted  together 
and  received  their  parting  address,  they  broke  the 
fast.  Winslow  gives  us  this  interesting  narrative: 
"They  that  stayed  at  Leyden  feasted  us  that  were 
to  go  at  our  pastor's  house,  being  large,  where  we 
refreshed  ourselves,  after  tears,  with  singing  of  psalms, 
making  joyful  melody  in  our  hearts,  as  well  as  with 
the  voice,  there  being  many  of  the  congregation  very 
expert  in  music,  and  indeed  it  was  the  sweetest  melody 
that  ever  mine  ears  heard."  *  This  author  does  not, 
indeed,  say  that  this  feast  was  on  the  evening  of  the 
fast  day,  but  he  implies  it,  and  other  considerations 
leave  no  doubt  of  it.  The  occasion  was  more  than 
the  ordinary  frugal  meal.     In  modem  terms,  it  was  a 

1  Bradford's  Hist,  pp.  58,  59. 

2  Young's  Chronicles,  p.  384. 

^  See  Dexter's  Cong,  as  seen,  etc.,  pp.  403,  404  n. 
*  Young's  Chronicles,  p.  384. 


64  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

"  church  sociable  "  at  which  the  Pilgrim  company- 
were  the  guests. 

If  the  facts  are  as  above  stated,  here  is  a  custom 
which  we  have  not  met  with  hitherto,  —  a  feast  on 
the  evening  of  a  fast  day!  The  fast  usually  ended 
about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  but  the  Puri- 
tans did  not  approve  of  the  feasts  with  which  the 
Church  of  England  celebrated  some  of  its  festivals. 
They  frequently  referred  to  the  inappropriateness  of 
these  "bankets."  How  happens  it,  then,  that  these 
Separatists  are  found  so  perilously  near  imitating 
their  example  ? 

The  problem  summons  to  our  notice  the  peculiari- 
ties of  the  Dutch  people.  They  also  kept  special  days 
on  occasion,  which  they  had  christened,  with  a  signi- 
ficant phrase,  days  of  "  fasting  prayer  and  thanks- 
giving "  (vast-bede-en  dankdag).  Even  in  cases  where 
they  are  termed  "  fast  and  prayer  "  days  (vast-en 
bededag),  or  "  prayer  and  fast"  days  (bidt-en vasten- 
dag),  the  word  "thanksgiving"  (danksegging)  i» 
sometimes  used  in  the  proclamation.  The  Dutch  emi- 
grants to  New  Netherland  carried  such  days  with 
them  to  the  New  World,  and  celebrated  them  for  many 
a  day,  as  will  be  seen  in  a  later  chapter.  If  the 
Scrooby  company  arrived  in  Ley  den  on  the  1st  of 
May,  1609,  they  were  witnesses  to  the  celebration  of 
a  thanksgiving  day  within  a  week  (May  6),  on  ac- 
count of  the  truce  between  the  states  and  their  ene- 
mies.i  Eobinson  must  have  been  interested  in  the 
events  relating  to  April  17, 1619,  a  day  of  "  fasting 
prayer  and  thanksgiving,"  in  which  thanksgiving  or 
prayer  may  be  presumed  to  have  prevailed  according 

1  Davies'  Hist,  of  Holland ^  ii.  439. 


THE  FASTS   OF  THE  EXILES.  65 

as  the  Dutch  minister  was  a  Calvinist  or  an  Ar- 
minian.^  It  was  an  exciting  time  at  Leyden.  And 
there  were  other  such  days  when  it  woiild  have  been 
manifest  to  the  observant  Separatist  that  thanksgiving 
did  not  merely  include  the  element  of  praise  in  the 
religious  service,  but  also  the  feast  after  the  hours  of 
fasting  were  over.  It  had  been  a  characteristic  of 
some  festivals,  and  thence  probably  passed  to  these 
days  of  civil  appointment,  which,  too,  well  suited  the 
feasting  temperament  of  the  Dutch. 

Some  historians  would  no  doubt  come  at  once  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  Pilgrims  about  to  depart  here 
show  their  indebtedness  to  the  Hollanders  among 
whom  they  had  found  an  abiding  place  for  nearly 
twelve  years ;  but  it  seems  to  us  an  unwarranted  in- 
ference from  a  mere  coincidence  in  the  outward  form. 
The  farewell  feast  of  the  Pilgi'ims,  hallowed  by  prayer 
and  psalm-singing,  was  a  very  different  thing  in  it- 
self from  the  convivial  gatherings  of  the  Dutch.  The 
feast  was  not  a  part  of  their  system  ;  in  this  instance 
it  was  incidental. 

There  is  another  explanation  of  the  fact  far  more 
reasonable.  It  is  found  in  their  own  past  experiences. 
Those  little  Separatist  circles  which,  forty  years  before, 
had  met  in  private  houses  about  London,  or  in  "  the  se- 
cluded gravel-pits  of  Islington,"  had  been  accustomed 
to  "  dyne  together  &  after  dynner  make  collection  to 
pay  for  ye  dyet."  Gathered  as  they  were  from  great 
distances  to  hear  the  word  of  God  preached,  it  was 
neciessary.  The  manor  house  of  Scrooby  had  many 
times  entertained  some  of  this  same  company  on  their 
meeting  days.  A  community  of  life  had  been,  to 
1  Brandt's  Hist,  iii.  351  ff.    The  proclamation  is  there  in  print. 


66  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

some  extent,  forced  upon  them  by  the  circumstances. 
They  enjoyed  the  social  compact,  which  brought  them 
together  like  a  family,  in  the  house  of  their  pastor. 
So  when  the  time  came  for  them  to  break  the  fast, 
they  were  following  their  own  precedents  in  gathering 
about  the  feast,  which  they  did  without  any  thought 
of  their  neighbors.  The  Separatists  had  already  de- 
monstrated their  right  to  be  termed  independent,  and 
they  are  the  last  against  whom  a  charge  of  imitating 
others  should  be  brought. 

Besides,  the  feast,  even  on  a  fast  day,  if  the  circum- 
stances made  it  appropriate,  was  not  at  variance  with 
their  religion.  They  regarded  the  spiritual  end  to  be 
served  rather  than  the  form.  "  Those  men,"  says 
Dr.  Leonard  Bacon,  "were  neither  sour  nor  grim; 
they  could  fast  or  feast,  as  occasion  might  require." 
And  have  we  not  here  an  illustration  of  that  genial 
and  hopeful  disposition  which  characterized  the  Pil- 
grims ?  They  had  not  that  rugged  severity  necessa- 
rily produced  by  the  constant  upheavals  of  Puritan 
life  in  England,  and  which  made  the  history  of  the 
Bay  Colony  to  run  at  times  like  a  turbulent  river. 
Their  life  had  been  turned  aside  to  flow  like  a  shaded 
stream.  It  was  such  a  spirit  which  finally  developed 
the  harvest  festival  out  of  the  Puritan  thanksgiving. 
In  their  fraternity,  too,  they  were  superior  to  all  other 
companies  of  planters.  The  family  and  the  home 
were  consecrated  in  the  adversities  they  shared  in 
exile. 

A  fast  "  at  the  river  Ahava  "  !  A  goodly  company 
"seeking  from  God  a  straight  way  for  themselves, 
for  their  little  ones,  and  for  all  their  substance  "  !  A 
fast  dissolving  at  evening  into  a  feast,  as  the  day  into 


THE  FASTS   OF  THE  EXILES.  67 

golden  twilight!  The  Pilgrim  chroniclers' have  given 
us  no  scene  more  charming,  none  in  truth  more  hon- 
estly religious.  It  is  worthy  of  the  artist's  brush,  — 
that  gathering  of  a  family  of  believers,  in  whose  he- 
roic souls  courage,  faith,  love,  and  gratitude  arise  in 
a  psalm  they  must  have  sung  on  that  day  of  fare- 
wells :  — 

"  lEhovah  feedeth  me,  I  shall  not  lack. 

In  grassy  folds,  he  down  doth  make  me  lye, 
he  gently  leads  me,  quiet  waters  by."  ^ 

There  are  no  words  which  so  fitly  record  their  de- 
parture from  Leyden  as  those  of  their  own  historian, 
Bradford :  "  So  they  lefte  y*  goodly  &  pleasante  citie,  W 

which  had  been  ther  resting  place  near  12  years,  but 
they  knew  they  were  pilgrimes  &  looked  not  much  on 
those  things  but  lift  up  their  eyes  to  y®  heavens  their 
dearest  cuntrie  and  quieted  their  spirits." 

^  Ainsworth,  Psalm-Book, 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE   HARVEST    FESTIVAL   AT   PLYMOUTH. 
1621. 

The  early  history  of  Hellenic  races  often  brings  out 
the  fact  that,  though  professing  descent  from  the  gods, 
they  are  found  in  possession  of  customs  belonging  to 
an  older  civilization.      Our  veneration  for  the  fore- 
fathers of  New  England  must  not  allow  us  to  suppose 
that  they  created  wholly  new  institutions.     The  pas- 
sengers of  the  Mayflow^er  were  liberty-loving  English- 
men, separated  only  so  far  as  conscience  commanded 
from  the  customs  of  their  native  land.     The  seed  of 
many   an   organism,  ecclesiastical,  civil,  or  social, — 
often  thought  to  have  been  original,  —  they  brought 
with  them,  to  be  planted  in  a  new  soil,  and  developed 
in  its  environment  as  a  new  variety.     Yet,  while  we 
forget  not  the  seed,  we  need  to  emphasize  those  new 
conditions  which  had  a  force,  rarely  enough  considered, 
in  determining  their  action  in  church  and  state,  and 
!      shaping  their  customs.     The  environment  will  account 
\     in  great  measure  for  the  fact  that  opinions  and  prac- 
tices, which  some  professed  to  love  still  as  they  left  Old 
V  England,  were  lost  at  sea. 
r~^    The  celebration  of  a  harvest  festival  by  the  Pilgrims 
1    in  1621  is  an  illustration  of  the  influence  of  these  new 
^    conditions  and  circumstances  in  clothing  an  old  Jdea 
with  appropriate  garments.     If  we  bear  in  mind  the 


HARVEST  FESTIVAL  AT  PLYMOUTH,        69 

fact  that  they  were  Englishmen,  living  in  affectionate 
regard  for  their  fathers,  and  do  them  the  credit  to 
believe  that  they  were  a  company  of  sensible  people, 
as  we  follow  the  stony  path  of  their  experiences  at 
Plymouth  for  many  months,  it  aU  seems  natural 
enough  that  they  should  do  as  they  did.  Surely  we 
will  rid  ourselves  of  the  notion  that  they  were  con- 
sciously shaping  the  practices  of  their  descendants  and 
inaugurating  the  harvest  thanksgiving  of  many  mil-  \  to 
lions.  It  was  not  a  thanksgiving  at  all,  judged  by 
their  Puritan  customs,  which  they  kept  in  1621 ;  but 
as  we  look  back  u23on  it  after  nearly  tlii-ee  centuries, 
it  seems  so  wonderfully  like  the  day  we  love  that  we 
claim  it  as  the  progenitor  of  our  harvest  feasts. 

The  Pilgrims  found  abimdant  cause  at  the  sight  of 
Cape  Cod  for  praismg  God.  Even  the  Truro  shore 
was  a  grateful  rehef  after  a  voyage  of  sixty-seven  days. 
If  Bradford,  as  we  believe,  describes  the  landing  of 
those^who  went  ashore  for  wood,  November  11  >  Ifi^O, 
O.  S.,  then  their  first  act  was  to  fall  upon  their  knees 
and  bless  the  God  of  heaven,^  and  without  doubt  they 
made  special  mention  of  their  gratitude  in  their  wor- 
ship the  next  day,  which  was  Sunday.  The  signal 
deliverance  at  the  place  of  "  the  first  encounter  "  was 
not  suffered  to  pass  without  their  giving  God  "  sol- 
lei^^TEanks  and  praise ; "  ^  and  so,  also,  their  escape 
from  shipwreck  on  Clark's  Island  was  commemorated.^ 
Such  were  the  Pilgrims  and  such  their  habit  day  by 
day.  Yet  we  should  hardly  suppose  that,  through- 
out the  sufferings  of  that  first  dreadful  winter,  they 
had  other  than  these  spontaneous  recognitions  of  their 

1  Bradford's  Hist.,  p.  78.  2  jjjVf.^  p.  ge. 

8  Ibid.,  p.  87 ;  MourVs  Relation,  ed.  1865,  p.  59. 


70  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

afflictions  and  blessings,  oftentimes  tempering  their 
sadly  wasted  Sunday  services.  There  was  no  demand 
for  a  special  day  of  humiliation  ;  it  was  a  life  of  fasting 
enforced  by  their  suffering  condition,  and,  had  there 
been  signal  deliverances,  they  were  not  so  circum- 
stanced as  to  respond  in  a  day  of  thanksgiving.  But 
there  was  prayer,  —  constant  prayer,  like  the  throb- 
bing of  the  pulse ;  and  so  an  infant  nation  was  born. 

The  spring  of  1621  opened,  and  the  seed  was  sown 
in  the' fields.  They  watched  it  with  anxiety,  for  well 
they  knew  that  their  lives  depended  upon  that  harvest. 
So  the  days  flew  by  and  the  autumn  came.  Never 
in  Holland  nor  in  Old  England  had  they  seen  the  like. 
For  the  most  part  they  had  worked  at  trades  during 
their  exile ;  they  were  now  farmers,  as  their  ancestors 
had  been.  Bounteous  Nature,  with  the  pride  of  a 
milliner  at  a  fall  opening,  spread  all  her  treasures 
before  them.  Their  little  plots  had  been  blessed  by 
the  sunshine  and  the  showers,  and  round  about  them 
were  many  evidences  of  the  friendliness  of  the  un- 
tilled  soil.  The  woodland — what  a  revelation  it  must 
have  been  to  them,  arrayed  in  its  autumnal  garments, 
and  swarming  with  game,  which  had  been  concealed 
from  them  during  the  summer!  The  Pilgrim  from 
over  the  sea  fell  in  love  then  and  there  with  New 
England,  and  the  bride,  clad  in  her  cloth  of  gold,  had 
been  waiting  many  years  for  such  a  suitor.  So  it  hap- 
pened that  there  was  a  wedding  feast. 

The  account  of  this  occasion  found  in  "  Mourt's  Ke- 

^lation  "  is  so  frequently  referred  to  that  it  is  given  in 

full :    "  Ouiuharvest  being  gotten  in,  our  Governour 

sent  foure  ifien  on  fowling,  that  so  we   might  after  a 

more  speciall  manner  reioyce  together,  after  we  had 


HARVEST  FESTIVAL  AT  PLYMOUTH.        71 

gathered  the  fruit  of  our  labours  ;  they  f oure  in  one 
day  killed  as  much  fowle,  as  with  a  little  helpe  beside, 
served  the  Company  almost  a  weeke,  at  which  time 
amongst  other  Recreations,  we  exercised  our  Armes, 
many  of  the  Indians  coming  amongst  vs,  and  amongst 
the  rest  their  greatest  King  Massasoyt,  with  some 
ninetie  men,  whom  for  three  dayes  we  entertained 
and  feasted,  and  they  went  out  and  killed  fine  Deere, 
which  they  brought  to  the  Plantation  and  bestowed 
on  our  Governour,  and  vpon  the  Captaine, 'and  others. 
And  although  it  be  not  alwayes  so  plentifull,  as  it  was 
at  this  time  with  vs,  yet  by  the  goodnesse  of  God,  we 
are  so  farre  from  want,  that  we  often  wish  you  par- 
takers of  our  plentie."  ^ 

That  thisjwas  a  harvest  festival  cannot  be  disputed. 
But  it  has  generally  been  termed  the  first  autumnal 
thanksgiving  in  New  England,^  and  some  have  sup- 
posed that  it  was  the  inauguration  of  a  continuous 
series  of  thanksgiving  occasions.  Such  is  not  the  fact. 
We  have  already  learned  what  their  idea  of  a  re- 
ligious thanksgiving  day  was,  and  the  account  itself 
shows  that  this  was  altogether  a  diflferent  celebration. 
It  was  not  a  day  set  apai-t  for  religious  worship,  but  a 
whole  week  of  festivity.  No  religious  service  is  spoken 
of,  and  it  is  not  likely  that  any  was  held,  other  than 

1  MourVs  Belation,  p.  133. 

2  Young  says  in  the  Chronicles  of  the  Pilgrims,  p.  231  n. :  "This 
was  the  first  Thanksgiving,  the  harvest  festival  of  New  England."  In 
The  Pilgrim  Republic,  p.  180,  Goodwin  says :  "  Thus  heartily  and  royally 
was  inaugurated  the  great  New  England  festival  of  Thanksgiving." 
This  is  the  opinion  commonly  held.  Rev.  H.  M.  Dexter,  D.  D.,  in  his 
edition  of  MourVs  Relation,  p.  133  n.,  says :  "  Here  began  that  peculiar 
Now  England  festival,  the  a^rmial  autumnal  Thanksgiving."  This 
view,  however,  he  subsequently  modified  in  The  Independent,  Novem- 
ber 28,  1889,  where  he  rejects  the  opinion  that  it  was  the  original  of 
the  autumnal  Thanksgiving, 


72  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

their  customary  morning  devotions.^  The  Sabbath 
services  which  bomided  the  week  were  probabTy^ef^ 
meated  with  the  spirit  of  gratitude,  and  for  aught  we 
know  they  may  have  had  a  thanksgiving  day  besides. 
This,  however,  was  a  week  of  rejoicing  and  pleasure. 
The  Pilgrims  would  surely  have  been  shocked  at 
"  recreations  "  during  a  religious  season.  They  even 
had  more  respect  for  Christmas  than  that.  On  the 
Christmas  Day  following,  as  Bradford  relates,  "  more 
of  mirth  than  of  waight,"  most  of  the  new  company, 
which  had  meanwhile  arrived  in  the  Fortune,  excused 
themselves  from  going  to  work  from  conscientious  scru- 
ples, whom  the  governor  found  at  noontime  "  pitching  ye 
barr  "  and  '.'  at  stoole-ball."  ^  He  thereupon  confiscated 
their  "  implements,"  and  bade  them  keep  their  houses  if 
they  made  the  keeping  of  the  day  a  matter  of  devotion, 
saying,  "  Ther  should  be  no  gameing  or  revelling  in  ye 
streets,"  in  which  action  he  mirthfully  justified  himself 
by  the  claim  that  it  "  was  against  his  conscience  that 
they  should  play  &  others  worke."'\^It  was  this  very 
mingling  of  sports  with  religious  services,  as  we  have 
seen,  that  they  had  condemned  in  England.  Whatever 
their  descendants  may  do,  the  Pilgrims  would  never 
have  countenanced  a  game  of  ball  upon  one  of  their 
thanksgiving  days.  Moreover,  such  an  interpretation 
robs  the  passage  of  its  charm,  and  impairs  its  real  sig- 
nificance. It  is  not  the  day  we  have  before  us,  but 
the  man  who  will  create  the  day.  The  brighter  side 
of  our  forefathers'  characters  is  here  displayed.     Re- 

^  They  had  prayers  before  breakfast.     Bradford's  HtsL,  p.  85 ;  The 
Pilgrim  Republic,  p.  180. 

2  On  these  amusements  see  Strutt's  Sports  and  Pastimes,  b.  ii.  c,  2, 
s.  7,  and  b.  ii.  c.  3,  s.  11. 

3  Bradford's  Hist.,  p.  112. 


HARVEST  FESTIVAL  AT  PLYMOUTH,        73 

ligion  had  its  place,  and  that  was  very  prominent,  but 
they  were  not  averse  to  recreations  and  amusements. 
They  looked  with  sad  concern,  no  doubt,  upon  the 
mature  faces  of  their  children,  and  sought  to  cheer 
them  by  joining  them  at  play.  We  regret  that  it 
cannot  be  shown  that  Bradford  and  Standish  and 
Winslow  could  play  stool-ball  just  a  little  better  than 
those  Christmas-keepers  of  the  Fortune's  company, 
but  we  have  no  doubt  they  looked  on  approvingly  and 
greeted  the  victors  with  applause.  The  muster  of  the 
military  before  the  admiring  eyes  of  wives  and  sisters 
was  a  needful  laudation  of  soldierly  duty,  and  withal 
a  wholesome  spectacle  for  the  Indians.  If  it  excited 
any  fears  in  their  savage  breasts,  these  were  dissipated 
by  the  prevailing  hospitality,  —  a  winsome  lesson 
which  they  eoidd  fully  appreciate.  The  grand  hunt 
of  the  four  prime  shots,  who  received  the  honor  from 
the  governor  himself,  was  an  event,  and  the  result 
shows  that  Bradford  made  no  mistake  in  his  selection. 
On  the  whole,  considering  the  pressure  of  their  em- 
ployments, it  is  remarkable  that  they  spared  an  entire 
week,  as  we  infer,  in  general  recreations  and  common 
feasting. 

The  Pilgrim  historians  liave  not  left  us  any  "bill 
of  fare"  for  this  particular  occasion,  but  we  can 
gather  from  extant  writings  some  knowledge  of  what 
they  may  have  had  during  the  week.  The  provisions 
must  have  been  bountiful,  for  there  were  about  one 
hundred*  and  forty  persons,  including  the  ninety  of 
Massasoit's  company,  who  were  entertained  for  three 
days.  All  had  their  share  of  the  supplies.  The 
colonists  were  divided  into  households  according  to 
convenience,  and  over  each  some  Pilgrim  mother  pre- 


74  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

sided  who  was  thoroughly  skilled  in  the  art  of  cookery. 
Various  kinds  of  sea-food  were  at  hand.  They  had 
made  the  acquaintance  of  the  oyster,  which  the  In- 
dians were  wont  to  bring  them,  and  who  had  doubt- 
less made  known  to  them  the  best  varieties  of  fish. 
Ducks  they  had  of  the  choicest  species,  higlily  prized 
by  the  epicures  of  the  present  day.  Geese  were  there- 
about that  would  have  done  honor  to  the  Michaelmas 
feast  of  England.  Game  was  brought  in  from  the 
woods  in  abundance,  from  venison,  which  they  knew 
well  how  to  roast,  to  the  partridge,  which  is  never  so 
good  as  when  broiled  on  the  skewer.  And,  abqve^all, 
they  had  the  turkey,  of  which  they  fomid  a  "  great 
store  "  in  the  forest,  —  the  turkey,  thus  early  crowned 
queen  of  their  bounty,  and  to  which  example  their  de- 
scendants, even  though  they  may  have  failed  to  imi- 
tate them  in  other  respects,  have  always  been  loyal. 
These  savory  meats  all  garnished  their  tables  through- 
out that  festival.  Kettles,  skillets,  and  spits  were 
overworked,  while  thus  their  knives  and  spoons, 
kindly  assisted  by  their  fingers,  made  merry  music 
on  their  pewter  plates.  Nor  were  these  viands  without 
the  company  of  the  barley  loaf  and  the  cakes  of  Indian 
meal,  more  highly  prized  then  than  wheat-fed  millions 
can  imagine.  As  to  their  vegetables,  we  have  the 
poetic  testimony  of  the  governor  himself,  —  for  his 
Excellency  wrote  poetry,  the  lines  of  which  were  not 
measured  by  dactylic  or  iambic  feet,  but  by  the  twelve- 
inch  rule  :  —  * 

/   "  All  sorts  of  grain  wMcli  our  own  land  doth  yield, 
,  ^  Was  hither  brought,  and  sown  in  every  field  : 

\K  \    As  wheat  and  rye,  barley,  oats,  beans  and  pease 

'   \  V/'    Here  all  thrive  and  they  profit  from  them  raise, 

All  sorts  of  roots  and  herbs  in  gardens  grow,  — 


HARVEST  FESTIVAL  AT  PLYMOUTH,        75 

Parsnips,  carrots,  turnips  or  what  you  '11  sow, 

Onions,  melons,  cucumbers,  radishes, 

B^^^,  beets,  cole  worts  and  fair  cabbages."  ^  >» 

Of  "  sallet  herbs "  they  had  found  plenty  in  the 
springtime,  but  now  they  depended  upon  the  yield  of 
their  garden  seeds.  The  indigenous  squash  and  pump- 
kin they  had  allowed  to  climb  their  cornstalks,  and 
it  may  be  they  had  now  and  then  a  pumpkin-pie. 
"  Strawberries,  gooseberries,  and  raspis  "  were  out  of 
season,  but  they  may  have  dried  some  in  the  summer 
sun,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  several  varieties 
of  plums  that  grew  in  the  woodland.  They  tell  us  n 
that  they  had  wild  grapes,  and  we  can  atiHost  detect  11 
the  smack  in  their  words,  '^  very  sweete  and  strong," 
whose  sweetness  might  have  added  strength  on  oppor^ 
timity,  in  the  absence  of  their  home-brewed  English 
beer.  The  most  temperate  of  their  descendants  woidd 
not  begrudge  them  such  a  beverage  "  for  their  stom- 
achs' sake  "  under  the  circumstances.  The  fact  is  that, 
notwithstanding  we  know  so  little  of  the  occasion,  we 
know  enough  of  what  was  at  hand,  so  we  can  fairly 
say  it  was  a  royal  feast  the  Pilgrims  spread  that  first 
golden  autumn  at  Plymouth,  worthy  of  their  Indian 
guests,  and  altogether  creditable  to  their  posterity .^ 
The  occasion  was  imique,  and  not  in  itself  adapted  to  T  i 
be  perpetuated  in  such  proportions.  As  the  peach- 
tree  puts  forth  its  tinted  bloom  before  its  abiding  foli- 
age, so  this  harvest  festival  was  the  bursting  into  life  1 1 
of  a  new  conception  of  man's  dependence  upon  the   : 

^  Lines  from  Bradford,  Mass.  Hist.  Soc  Coll.,  I.  vol.  iii.  p.  77. 

^  The  exact  time  of  this  festival  is  unknown.  If  we  may  fix  it 
by  the  sequence  of  events  in  the  narrative,  it  was  between  September 
23  and  November  11,  and  probably  in  October.  Bradford's  Hist.,  pp. 
104,  105 ;  Mourt's  Relation,  pp.  124,  137. 


76  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

bounties  of  nature.  It  was  the  promise  of  autunma] 
thanksgivings  to  come. 

It  has  been  repeatedly  said  that  this  festival  was 
suggested  to  the  Pilgrims  by  the  "  Feast  of  Ingather- 
ing "  known  in  Jewish  history,  and  others  have  found 
in  that  the  motive  for  the  development  of  the  New 
England  Thanksgiving.  All  harvest  festivals,  whethei 
of  Christians  or  heathen,  must  be  the  same  in  essence. 
Only  in  respect  to  its  intent  and  duration  would  thi^ 
Pilgrim  celebration  suggest  that  of  the  Bible,  in  whicl 
worship  and  sacrifice  were  the  burden  of  its  ritual 
John  Robinson  makes  an  extended  reference  to  this 
Jewish  feast  as  kept  by  Ezra,  and  finds  only  a  solemr 
religious  character  attaching  to  it.^  It  could  not  have 
been  regarded  otherwise  by  the  forefathers.  The  sup- 
position seems  to  us  wholly  without  warrant. 

If  it  has  a  kinship  to  anything  in  the  past,  it  is  tc 
the  Harvest  Home  of  England.  The  joy  over  the 
gathering-in  of  the  harvest  was  the  main  thought  in 
both  celebrations.  This  had  no  bringing  home  witli 
much  ceremony,  from  the  field,  of  the  last  shock  oi 
corn,  fantastically  arrayed  in  brilliant  finery;  nc 
"blessing  of  the  cart,"  or  "kissing  of  the  sheaves;'' 
no  harvest  song,  so  familiar  in  the  fatherland :  — 

"  Here 's  a  health  to  the  barley-mow ; 
Here  's  a  health  to  the  man 
Who  very  well  can 
Both  harrow  and  plough  and  sow." 

Yet  the  master  and  the  servant  had  the  old-time  fel 
lowship  at  the  feast,  and  the  new-time  guest,  with  hi^ 
royal  crown  of  eagle  feathers,  was  not  better  than  the 
humblest.  Their  hockey  cake  was  of  the  proper  sort ; 
1  Robinson's  Works,  ii.  312. 


HARVEST  FESTIVAL  AT  PLYMOUTH.        77 

and  the  goose,  if  not  of  aristocratic  lineage,  was  much 
to  their  liking.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  in  some 
districts  in  England  at  that  time  the  feast  of  the  har- 
vest contmued  for  an  entire  week.i  Surely,  if  this 
occasion  is  to  be  judged  by  analogy,  it  has  affinities 
with  the  harvest  festival  of  England.  It  may  be  fairly 
assumed  that  the  idea  of  celebrating  their  ingathering 
was  famihar  to  them.  Often  in  their  own  land  had 
they  witnessed  such  celebrations.  More  than  this  we 
cariiiot  certainly  say,  for  there  is  no  evidence  that 
they  observed  any  of  the  customs  characteristic  of  that 
English  holiday  season ;  and  if  they  had  in  mind  the 
perpetuation  of  the  Harvest  Home,  it  is  strange,  in- 
deed, that  the  historian  omits  entirely  a  reference  to 
their  purpose. 

The  harvest  festival  at  Plymouth  in  1621  was  an  , 
inspiration.  It  was  not  made ;  it  was  born.  It  did 
not  look  backward  into  the  past;  and,  as  for  the 
future,  no  one  thought  of  the  real  influence  such  a 
celebration  would  have.  The  present  alone  com- 
manded it ;  its  wonderful  autimmal  season,  its  relief 
from  anxiety,  its  food  for  those  who  had  endured  hun- 
ger, —  this  benediction  of  the  New  World  reanimated 
their  drooping  spirits.  They  could  serve  God  as  truly  \  \  \ 
on  a  holiday  in  its  recreations  as  on  the  Sabbath  in  j  I  | 
its  services.  All  slumbering  discontent  they  would 
smother  with  common  rejoicings.  When  the  holiday 
was  over  they  would  be  better,  braver  men,  because 
they  had  turned  aside  to  rest  awhile.  So  the  exile  of 
Leyden  claimed  the  harvests  of  New  England. 

1  Richard  Carew,  in  his  Survey  of  Cornwall^  says  of  the  English 
harvest  festival :  "  Neither  doth  the  good  cheere  wholly  expire  (though 
it  somewhat  decrease)  but  with  the  end  of  the  weeke."  For  a  sum- 
mary of  harvest  customs,  see  Brand's  Pop.  Antiq.,  ii.  16-33 ;  Strutt's 
Sports  and  Pastimes,  b.  iv.  c.  3,  s.  27. 


'\ 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SHOWERS    OF   BLESSING. 
1623. 

The  expression  of  gratitude  to  God  in  a  religious 
service  did  not  make  its  advent  in  America  with  the 
Pilgrims.  It  was,  of  course,  a  common  feature  of  all 
rituals.  The  Church  of  England  had  provided  for  it 
by  special  prayers  to  be  offered  at  the  Sabbath  service, 
and  this  was  the  practice  of  her  colonists.  A  failure 
to  distinguish  between  this  thanksgiving  service  and 
the  thanksgiving  day  has  led  some  to  claim  that  the 
Popham  colonists  at  Monhegan  in  1607  were  the  fore- 
runners in  the  keeping  of  thanksgiving  days.  The 
account  itself,  as  given  in  "  A  Relation  of  a  Voyage 
to  Sagadahoc,"  refutes  the  claim.  It  is  as  follows : 
"  Sondaye  beinge  the  9th  of  August,  in  the  mominge 
the  most  part  of  our  holl  company  of  both  our  shipes 
landed  on  tliis  Illand,  whear  the  crosse  standeth ;  and 
thear  we  heard  a  sermon  delyvred  unto  us  by  our 
preacher,  gyuinge  God  thanks  for  our  happy  metinge 
and  saffe  aryuall  into  the  contry ;  and  so  retorned 
abord  aggain."  ^  Rev.  Richard  Seymour,  the  preacher, 
was  aii  Episcopalian,  and  the  passage  shows  that  he 
adhered  to  the  custom  of  his  church.  The  Puritan 
thanksgiving  day  was  a  week-day  observance,  and 
quite  another  thing  in  its  whole  temper. 

1  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Proc.,  xviii.  102. ;  Winsor's  Nar.  and  Crit.  Hist,  of 
America^  iii.  176,  192. 


SHOWERS   OF  BLESSING.  79 

We  have  already  estabKshed  the  fact  that  the  system 
of  fasts  and  thanksgivings  which  the  English  colonists 
as  Puritans  brought  with  them  to  Plymouth,  Salem, 
Boston,  and  Hartford  was  that  of  occasional  days  for 
special  causes.  We  now  turn  to  follow  them  in  the 
practice  of  this  system,  which  has  continued  through 
droughts,  earthquakes,  and  wars  to  modern  times,  ever 
becoming  less  recognized.  The  development  of  the  oc- 
casional spring  fast  into  the  annual  appointment,  and 
the  growth  of  the  autumnal  harvest  thanksgiving  as  now 
observed,  we  shall  meet  with  in  due  time,  nor  will 
these  changes  seem  so  strange  to  us  after  we  have  be- 
come familiar  with  the  nature  of  the  causes  which 
moved  the  fathers  in  early  days. 

A  remarkable  and  interesting  instance  of  their  cus- 
tom is  now  at  hand  in  the  experiences  at  Plymouth  in 
1623. 

The  year  1622  had  been  filled  with  misfortunes. 
Shortly  after  their  harvest  festival,  when  they  had 
thought  their  struggles  were  at  an  end,  other  colo- 
nists had  arrived  by  the  ship  Fortune,  unprovided 
\vith  supplies.  Had  this  lack  of  forethought  been  at 
once  appreciated,  Winslow  would  not  have  sent  back, 
by  this  very  ship,  such  a  glowing  account  of  their 
plenty,  to  encourage  a  repetition  of  this  mistake.  As 
the  spring  of  1622  advanced,  their  "  store  of  victuals 
was  wholly  spent."  Promises  of  supplies  from  the 
Adventurers  in  England  failed.  In  the  summer  the 
disorderly  crowd  from  the  Charity  and  the  Swan, 
—  the  Weymouth  company  —  were  loaded  upon  them. 
Their  crop  was  depleted  and  damaged  by  these  thieves 
whom  they  were  entertaining,  and  rumors  of  trouble 
with  the  Indians  had  prevented  them  from  increasing 


80  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

the  extent  of  their  fields.  Notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  they  obtained  some  supplies  from  the  Lidians  by 
barter,  and  more  from  fishing  vessels  by  gift,  in  the 
autumn  their  wants  were  greater  even  than  in  the 
starving  spring.  Even  a  pious  Pilgrim  could  find  no 
occasion  for  an  autumnal  thanksgiving,  and  they  were, 
alas !  in  no  circumstances  to  indulge  in  a  week  of 
feasting.  So  the  winter  passed.  The  spring  of  1623 
only  augmented  their  sufferings.  At  night  they  did 
not  know  where  they  would  procure  food  for  the  next 
day.  Perhaps  it  was  Elder  Brewster,  in  one  of  their 
Sabbath  services,  and  possibly  speaking  from  the  pe- 
tition in  the  Lord's  Prayer,  who  made  the  observation 
which  Bradford  quotes  :  "  They  had  need  to  pray  that 
God  would  give  them  their  dayly  brade,  above  all  peo- 
ple in  y®  world."  ^  The  one  boat  they  had  was  em- 
ployed all  the  time  by  one  of  the  several  companies 
into  which  they  had  been  divided,  and  the  fishing 
trips  on  which  they  went  were  sometimes  prolonged 
for  days  before  they  caught  enough  to  warrant  a  re- 
turn. Never  since  they  had  arrived  at  Plymouth  had 
they  been  so  reduced. 

In  the  month  of  April  they  planted  their  corn.  A 
second  time  within  the  space  of  three  years  they 
turned  in  desperate  straits  to  the  mother  earth  for  re- 
lief, and  lifted  up  their  waiting  eyes  to  Heaven.  All 
prospered  until  the  third  week  in  May,  when  a 
drought  set  in.  It  was  a  new  trial,  and  one  against 
which  they  could  not  have  provided  had  they  fore- 
seen it.  For  six  long  weeks  "  there  scarce  fell  any 
raii^n,"  and  there  was  excessive  heat.  Sadly  they 
watched  the  effect  upon  their  crops.     The  fields  be- 

1  Bradford's  Hist.,  p.  136. 


SHOWERS   OF  BLESSING.  81 

came  parched.  The  corn  withered  away  so  they 
thought  it  was  dead.  Their  beans  ceased  growing, 
and  appeared  as  though  they  had  been  blasted  with 
fire.  In  the  midst  of  this  discouragement  there  ar- 
rived a  ship  bringing  the  "  admiral  of  the  fishing 
fleet,"  who  told  them  he  had  spoken  a  ship  at  sea  with 
many  of  their  friends  aboard,  but  had  lost  them  in 
a  storm,  and  judged  from  their  delay  and  some  wreck- 
age that  all  had  perished.  "  The  most  courageous," 
says  Winslow,  "  were  now  discouraged,  because  God, 
which  hitherto  had  been  their  [our]  only  shield  and 
supporter,  now  seemed  in  his  anger  to  arm  himself 
against  them  [us]." 

The  narrative  of  Winslow  gives  an  ample  account  of 
what  followed,  and  it  should  be  put  in  liis  own  words : 
"  These  and  the  like  considerations  moved  not  only 
every  good  man  privately  to  enter  into  examination 
with  his  own  estate  between  God  and  his  conscience, 
and  so  to  humiliation  before  him,  but  also  more 
solemnly  to  hmnble  ourselves  together  before  the 
Lord  by  fasting  and  prayer.  To  that  end  a  day  was 
appointed  by  public  authority,  and  set  apart  from  all 
other  employments ;  hoping  that  the  same  God,  which 
had  stirred  us  up  hereunto,  would  be  moved  hereby 
in  mercy  to  look  down  upon  us  and  gi'ant  the  request 
of  our  dejected  souls,  if  our  continuance  there  might 
any  way  stand  with  his  glory  and  our  good.  But  O 
the  mercy  of  our  God !  who  was  as  ready  to  hear  as 
we  to  ask  :  for  though  in  the  morning,  when  we  as- 
sembled together,  the  heavens  were  as  clear,  and  the 
drought  as  like  to  continue  as  ever  it  was,  yet  (our 
exercise  continuing  some  eight  or  nine  hours)  before 
our  departure,  the  weather  was  overcast,  the  clouds 


82  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING    DAYS. 

gathered  together  on  all  sides,  and  on  the  next  morn- 
ing distilled  such  soft,  sweet,  and  moderate  showers  of 
rain,  continuing  some  fourteen  days  and  mixed  with 
such  seasonable  weather,  as  it  was  hard  to  say  whether 
our  withered  corn,  or  drooping  affections,  were  most 
quickened  or  revived  ;  such  was  the  bounty  and  good- 
ness of  God.  Of  this  the  Indians,  by  means  of  Hob- 
bamock,  took  notice,  who  being  then  in  the  town,  and 
this  exercise  in  the  midst  of  the  week,  said,  It  was 
but  three  days  since  Sunday,  and  therefore  demanded 
of  a  boy,  what  was  the  reason  thereof,  which  when  he 
knew,  and  saw  what  effects  followed  thereupon,  he 
and  all  of  them  admired  the  goodness  of  our  God  to- 
wards us,  that  wrought  so  great  a  change  in  so  short 
a  time,  showing  the  dift'erence  between  their  conjura- 
tion, and  our  invocation  on  the  name  of  God  for  rain, 
theirs  being  mixed  with  such  storms  and  tempests,  as 
sometimes,  instead  of  doing  them  good,  it  layeth  the 
corn  flat  on  the  ground,  to  their  prejudice,  but  ours 
in  so  gentle  and  seasonable  a  manner,  as  they  never 
observed  the  like."  ^ 

It  was  not  many  days  after  this  fast,  if  we  rightly 
conjecture,  that  Captain  Miles  Standish,  who  had  been 
northward  on  a  voyage  to  procure  provisions,  returned 

^  Winslow's  "  Relation,"  Young's  Chronicles,  pp.  349,  350 ;  Brad- 
ford's Hist.,  pp.  141,  142  n.  Nathaniel  Morton,  in  his  New  England'' s 
Memorial  (repr.  1855,  pp.  64,  65),  gives  a  more  dramatic  setting  to 
the  astonishment  of  the  Indians.  Hobomok  said,  "  I  am  much  troubled 
for  the  English,  for  I  am  afraid  they  will  lose  all  their  corn  by  the 
drought,  and  so  they  will  be  all  starved,"  but  afterwards  he  confessed 
to  the  same  man,  "  Now  I  see  that  the  Englishman's  God  is  a  good 
God,"  etc.  This  was  the  version  current  in  1669  as  given  by  one  of 
the  fathers  then  living,  probably  John  Alden.  Increase  Mather  con- 
cludes his  account  with  the  words,  "  Some  amongst  the  Indians  be- 
came faithfull  to  the  English"  {Early  Hist,  repr.  1864,  pp.  108, 
109). 


SHOWERS   OF  BLESSING.  83 

to  them  with  a  supply,  and  also  with  the  welcome 
news  that  their  friends  had  escaped  the  storm  and 
might  soon  be  expected.  This  was  all  they  needed  to 
fill  their  cup  with  blessings.  "  Having  these  many 
signs  of  God's  favor  and  acceptation,"  Winslow  con- 
tinues, ''we  thought  it  would  be  great  ingratitude,  if 
secretly  we  should  smother  up  the  same,  or  content 
ourselves  with  private  thanksgiving  for  that  which  by 
private  prayer  could  not  be  obtained.  And  therefore 
another  solemn  day  was  set  apart  and  appointed  for 
that  end ;  wherein  we  returned  glory,  honor,  and 
prais^,  with  all  thankfulness,  to  our  good  God,  which 
dealt  so  graciously  with  us  ;  whose  name  for  these  and 
all  other  his  mercies  towards  his  church  and  chosen 
ones,  by  them  be  blessed  and  praised,  now  and  ever- 
more.    Amen."  ^ 

This  is  the  most  complete  of  the  original  accounts, 
and  the  only  other  is  that  given  b}^  Bradford.  Hub- 
bard, Prince,  and  later  writers  obtained  aU  their  facts 
from  them.  John  Smith  had  evidently  read  Wins- 
low's  "  Relation."  2  The  deliverance,  however,  was 
not  soon  forgotten,  and,  being  rehearsed  from  time  to 
time,  tradition  added  many  particulars  to  the  story. 
Such  is  the  authority  for  the  report  that  they  had  di- 
vided their  last  pint  of  corn  among  them,  giving  five 
kernels  to  each  person.  In  most  modern  versions  it 
is  said  that  the  rain  began  to  fall  on  their  way  home 
from  church,  but  it  will  be  noticed  that  Winslow  says 
"  the  weather  was  overcast "  and  the  rain  began  the 
next  morning.     Bradford  says:  "Toward  evening  it 

^  Young-' s  Chronicles^  p.  351. 

2  Advertisements  for  the  Unexperienced  Planters,  etc.,  repr.  1865, 
p.  33. 


84  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

begane  to  overcast  and  shortly  after  to  raine,"  which, 
though  not  conclusive,  may  be  the  origin  of  the  impres- 
sion. Thus  much  must  be  evident :  it  was  a  very  re- 
markable instance  of  a  most  beneficial  rain  following 
at  once  upon  a  day  of  prayer,  and  its  influence  upon 
those  reverent  and  believing  fathers  can  scarcely  be 
overestimated.  This  must  have  been  augmented,  too, 
by  the  coming  in  of  the  Anne,  only  a  day  after 
the  thanksgiving,  with  many  of  the  Leyden  flock 
aboard  who  had  been  left  behind  by  the  Mayflower. 

The  critical  study  of  this  passage,  compared  with 
Bradford's,  enables  us  to  bring  out  several  important 
points.  With  a  good  degree  of  confidence  we  may 
conclude  that  the  date  of  the  fast  day  was  Wednes- 
day, July  16,  O.  S.,  for  Bradford  says  the  drought 
"  continued  from  y®  3  weeke  in  May,  till  about  y® 
midle  of  July,"  which  corroborates  Winslow's  remark 
that  it  lasted  for  six  weeks  after  the  "  latter  end 
of  May."  It  was  on  a  Wednesday,  "  but  three  days 
since  Sunday,"  or  "  in  the  midst  of  the  week."  The 
Thanksgiving  woidd  most  likley  have  been  on  the 
same  day  of  the  week.  It  was  after  the  rain  had 
proven  its  beneficial  effects, —  "in  time  conveniente," 
in  Bradford's  phrase  ;  but  it  was  before  the  arrival 
of  the  Anne,  which  Winslow  says  was  the  "  latter 
end  of  July,"  by  which  we  take  him  to  mean,  as  in 
the  former  instance,  the  last  day  of  July.  Other 
examples  of  this  rendering  of  uW  die  are  found  in 
early  documents.  The  tradition  certainly  is  that  the 
Anne  arrived  on  the  31st  of  July.  If,  then,  we  set 
the  thanksgiving  day  on  a  Wednesday,  two  weeks  after 
the  fast  and  at  the  end  of  the  fourteen  days'  rain,  it 
would  have  been  July  30,  the  day  before  the  ship  came. 


SHOWERS   OF  BLESSING.  86 

This  would  agree  with  the  statement  of  Captain  John 
Smith,  which  Prince  quotes,  that  ''  either  the  next 
morning  or  not  long  after  [the  thanksgiving]  came 
in  two  ships."  ^  Furthermore,  if  the  departure,  of 
Captain  Francis  West  was  just  before  the  fast,  as 
we  suppose,  it  was  "  about  14  days  after,"  according 
to  Bradford  also,  that  the  Anne  came  into  port, 
which  would  have  been  the  last  of  July.  Thus  all 
accounts  are  harmonized,  and  point  to  the  16  th  as 
the  fast,  and  the  30th  as  the  thanksgiving. 

It  is  also  noticed  that  these  days  were  appointed  by 
"  public  authority,"  that  is,  by  an  order  from  the  gov- 
ernor as  the  civil  magistrate.  We  believe  they  were 
the  first  so  ordered  in  New  England ;  certainly  we  have 
no  record  of  any  earlier.  Winslow  particularly  notes 
this  manner  of  appointment,  and  the  reasons  for  it,  as 
he  would  hardly  have  done  had  it  been  a  custom  dur- 
ing the  previous  years.  Such  days  as  may  have  been 
observed  previously  would,  by  former  usage,  have 
originated  with  the  church.  Both  practices  were  in 
use  a  few  years  later,  as  the  Plymouth  church  records 
prove.  The  famine  was  an  extreme  occasion  which 
demanded  more  than  their  customary  private  fastings. 
Yet  it  was  undoubtedly  in  accordance  with  the  unan- 
imous desire  of  the  church  membership,  and  perhaps 
at  the  specific  request  of  Elder  Brewster,  that  the  gov- 
ernor set  apart  such  days.  If  we  may  apply  the  prin- 
ciples of  criticism  to  the  words  of  Winslow,  there  was 
an  order  —  the  earliest  form  of  a  proclamation  — 
which  declared  the  occasion  for  the  day,  and  m  which, 
as  the  English  custom  was,  the  day  was  "  set  apart 
and  appointed  "  and  "  other  employments  "  were  pro- 

^  Smith's  General  History,  lib.  6. 


86  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

hibited.  We  might  almost  venture  that  some  of 
Winslow's  pious  expressions  were  quotations  from 
such  a  document. 

The  further  details  of  their  action  are  not  pre- 
served for  us.  We  can  only  imagine  the  solemn 
character  of  their  services,  —  the  extended  prophesy- 
ing of  Elder  Brewster,  the  prayers,^  and  the  psalm- 
singing.  What  attracts  us  most  in  the  story  is  the 
simplicity  of  the  Pilgrims'  faith  in  the  divine  answer 
to  their  supplications.  It  was  an  experience  which 
must  have  exercised  a  lasting  influence  upon  their 
fasting  and  thanksgiving  customs :  — 

"  Famine  once  we  had  — 
But  other  things  God  gave  us  in  full  store, 
As  fish  and  ground  nuts,  to  supply  our  strait, 
That  we  might  learn  on  providence  to  wait ; 
And  know,  by  bread  man  lives  not  in  his  need. 
But  by  each  word  that  doth  from  God  proceed."  ^ 

It  must  be  considered  a  misfortune  in  our  study  that 
we  have  no  accounts  of  such  fasts  and  thanksgivings, 
church  or  public,  as  may  have  been  observed  during 
the  next  few  years.  We  do  not  doubt  that  they  kept 
them,  not  annually,  but  as  special  causes  would  sug- 
gest. De  Rasieres'  letter  of  1627  speaks  of  their 
observing  the  usual  holidays,  and,  as  these  could  not 
have  been  those  of  the  Church  of  England,  he  must 
have  had  certain  other  days  in  mind.  In  1630  they  are 
found  keeping  a  fast  day  in  sympathy  with  the  Bay 
Colony,  to  which  reference  is  made  in  that  connection. 

^  Bradford  says  of  Elder  Brewster :  "  He  always  thought  it  were 
better  for  ministers  to  pray  oftener,  and  divide  their  prayers,  than  to 
be  long  and  tedious  in  the  same,  except  upon  solemn  and  special  occa- 
sions as  on  days  of  Humiliation  and  the  like."  —  Young's  Chronicles, 
p.  469. 

2  Lines  from  Bradford,  Mass,  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  I.,  vol.  iii.  p.  77. 


SHOWERS   OF  BLESSING.  87 

Meanwhile,  however,  other  emigrants  began  to 
settle  in  the  Plymouth  Colony,  and  in  1634  there 
came  Rev.  John  Lothrop  and  some  of  liis  English 
flock.  We  know  that  their  practice  had  been  the 
same  as  that  of  the  Pilgrims.  It  is  fortunate  that  we 
have  the  records  of  this  church,  which  at  first  was 
located  at  Scituate  and  afterwards  at  Barnstable.^ 
They  contain  the  dates  of  a  number  of  fasts  in  the 
years  1634  and  1635.^  There  are  six  in  the  two 
years,  and,  though  we  cannot  say  certainly  that  these 
were  other  than  church  fasts,  some  of  them  may  have 
been  kept  also  by  the  church  at  Plymouth.  Some, 
indeed,  may  have  been  ordered  by  public  authority. 
This  supposition  is  favored  by  their  record  of  the  next 
year,  1636,  the  most  impoiijant  of  the  decade  on  ac- 
count of  the  revision  of  the  Colonial  Laws  and  the 
establislunent  of  a  more  permanent  government.  Here 
we  meet  first  with  a  fast  day,  November  11,  the  oc- 
casion for  which  was  "  a  blessing  upon  their  consul- 
tation about  the  Laws."  This  would  certainly  have 
moved  the  Plymouth  church  to  fasting  as  well  as  that 
at  Scituate,  and  it  is  very  possible  that  this  was 
appointed  by  public  authority.  On  the  15th  they 
met  to  review  the  laws,  and  one  residt  of  their  labors 
was  a  law  concerning  the  appointment  of  fasts  and 
thanksgivings.  It  is  as  foUows :  "  That  it  be  in  the 
power  of  the  Governor  &  Assist®  to  comand  solemn 
daies  of  humilia^on  by  fasting  &c,  and  also  for 
thankesgiving  as  occasion  shall  be  offered."  ^  As 
these  authorities  had  appointed  the  days  of  1623,  it  is 

1  Church  records  in  N.  E.  Hist,  and  Gen.  Reg.,  ix.  279  ff.,  x.  37  ff., 
345  ff. 

2  See  Calendar.  3  Ply.  Col  Rec,  xi.  18. 


88  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

probable  tliat  they  had  continued  the  practice  since 
then,  but  only  upon  occasion,  as  the  law  specifically 
provides.  There  was  now  a  new  reason  for  confirm- 
ing this  civil  power.  The  colony  had  extended  its 
borders.  Other  towns  were  springing  up,  and  the 
church  at  Plymouth  had  no  jurisdiction  over  those  at 
Scituate  and  Duxbury.  It  was  only  through  such  a 
law  that  they  could  secure  imiformity,  which  was 
desirable  when  the  causes  were  of  common  interest. 
As  a  fast  was  kept  before  the  "  settling  the  state,"  it 
is  probable  that  the  thanksgiving  kept  by  the  Scitu- 
ate church  December  22  was  to  celebrate  the  com- 
pletion of  the  work,  and  it  would  naturally  be  ap- 
pointed under  the  new  law. 

Of  this  day  as  kept  at  Scituate  we  have  some 
further  information  of  an  important  nature.  The 
record  is  as  follows  :  "In  y*  Meetinghouse,  begin- 
ning some  haKe  an  hour  before  nine  &  continued 
untill  after  twelve  aclocke,  y®  day  beeing  very  cold, 
beginning  w*  a  short  prayer,  then  a  psalme  sang, 
then  more  large  in  prayer,  after  that  an  other  Psalme, 
&  then  the  Word  taught,  after  that  prayer  —  & 
the  a  psalme,  —  Then  makeing  merry  to  the  crea- 
tures, the  poorer  sort  beeing  invited  of  the  richer."  i 
This  is  the  earliest  example  in  the  Plymouth  Colony 
of  feasting  in  connection  with  a  thanksgiving  day,  fif- 
teen years  after  the  notable  harvest  festival  of  1621. 
That  such  was  the  custom,  at  least  in  the  Scituate 
church,  is  proven  by  the  fact  that  October  12,  1637, 
was  also  a  thanksgiving  there,  "  mainely  for  these  tow 
particulars :  1.  Ffor  the  victory  over  the  pequouts, 
y®  2.  Ffor  Keconciliation  betwixt  Mr.  Cotton  and  the 

1  Chh.  rec,  N.  E,  Reg.,  x.  39. 


SHOWERS   OF  BLESSING,  89 

other  ministers ; "  and  it  is  said  to  have  been  "  per- 
formed much  in  the  same  manner  aforesaid."  Again, 
December  11,  1639,  was  a  thanksgiving,  and  after 
the  services  they  divided  into  three  companies  to  feast. 
This  does  not  prove  that  the  day  had  assumed  an 
annual  character,  but  it  shows  an  important  feature 
of  the  development  towards  that,  namely,  the  thanks- 
giving feast.  And,  remembering  that  many  of  tliis 
company  had  been  under  Lothrop's  care  in  England, 
we  have  another  instance  like  that  of  the  exiles  at 
Leyden,  of  keeping  a  church  feast,  in  which  the  circum- 
stances of  their  separation  had  educated  them.  The 
thanksgiving  feast,  indeed,  may  be  called  a  Separatist 
institution,  and,  in  the  light  of  the  harvest  festival  of 
1621  and  the  experiences  of  1623,  we  may  conclude 
that  it  was  not  long  before  it  was  generally  recognized 
in  the  Plymouth  Colony. 

In  concluding  this  survey  of  the  early  customs  of 
the  Pilgrims,  we  should  record  the  fact  that  their  love 
for  the  holidays  of  England  was  not  increased.  The 
first  Christmas,  they  celebrated  by  beginning  the  erec- 
tion of  their  storehouse,  and  the  second  they  labored 
in  the  fields,  administering  some  discouragement  to 
a  few  Christmas-keepers.  It  will  be  noted  that  the 
church  at  Scituate  appointed  a  fast  on  the  Christmas 
of  1634.  As  for  Guy  Fawkes's  Day,  November  5, 
they  had  sad  occasion  to  remember  the  fire  of  1623  on 
that  day,  either  brought  about  by  some  roistering  sea- 
men, or  set  with  the  intention  of  destroying  their 
plantation.  If  justification  is  necessary  for  their 
dislike  of  the  ceremonies  of  May  Day,  it  is  readily 
found  in  Thomas  Morton's  "New  English  Canaan," 
whose  own  account  of  his  company  is  sufiicient  con- 


90  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

demnation.     That  reveling  crew  of  merry  mountain- 
eers, with   their  "  beaver-clad   lasses,"  whose   nectar 
does  not  seem  to  have  inspired  the  godlike  in  their 
/  behavior,  were  no  doubt  as  offensive  to  the   Saints 
I  Philip  and  James,  whom  they  were  honoring,  as  to 
)  the    Separatists    of    Plymouth,  who  christened    their 
]  pine-tree  May-pole,  surmounted    with  its    "  paire   of 
(bucks  horns,"  the  "  calf  of  Horeb."     It  was,  however, 
not  so  much 

"  The  proclamation  that  the  first  of  May 
At  Ma-re  Mount  shall  be  kept  holly-day  '* 

as  their  violation  of  the  king's  proclamation  against 
selling  firearms  to  the  Indians,  that  finally  brought 
down  upon  them  the  valiant  Standish  and  his  mus- 
keteers. 

The  fast  and  thanksgiving  days  of  the  Pilgrims, 
consecrated  by  their  sufferings,  were  destined  to  a 
nobler  mission. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   SEA-FASTS   OF   TWO   VOYAGES. 

1629-1630. 

The  ecclesiastical  organization  of  the  Puritans  in 
the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  was  the  natural  out- 
come of  their  Non-conformity  in  England.  A  resi- 
dence in  the  mother  country  about  1625  would  cer- 
tainly have  convinced  the  observer  that  large  num- 
bers, who  still  counted  themselves  as  within  the  Church 
of  England,  were  dissatisfied  with  her  religious  tem- 
per. They  fully  accepted  her  articles  of  faith,  but 
they  could  not  resist  the  powerful  reforming  influences 
of  the  age.  Advocating,  as  these  persons  did,  the  em- 
ployment of  an  intelligent  ministry;  practicing,  as 
they  were  wont,  prophesying  in  assemblies  distinct 
from  the  church  service  ;  hallowing  the  Sabbath,  as 
the  majority  of  their  fellow-communicants  did  not ; 
minded  also  to  reject  numberless  ecclesiastical  cere- 
monies commonly  termed  indifferent,  —  these  Non- 
conformists had  thus,  un^vittingly  perhaps,  separated 
themselves  from  the  body  of  religious  life  in  a  church 
for  which  they  still  entertained  filial  affection.  Or- 
ganization does  not  precede  the  adoption  of  harmo- 
nious opinions,  it  foUows.  We  cannot  conceive  of 
these  Puritan  emigrants  to  New  England  as  forming 
any  other  church  than  they  did.  The  life  that  really 
dissented  could  not  express    itself  in  a  church  that 


92  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

conformed.  They  acted  in  good  faith,  but  they  laid 
stone  upon  stone  after  a  design  that  they  knew  not. 
It  seemed  to  them  afterward,  as  they  viewed  the  struc- 
ture, that  it  had  been  ordered  by  Divine  Providence. 

Some  remembrance  of  these  conditions  is  essential 
to  an  explanation  of  the  fact  that  companies  like 
those  at  Plymouth,  Salem,  and  Boston  came  at  once 
into  agreement  upon  the  custom  of  observing  fast  and 
thanksgiving  days.  They  had  really  come  into  pos- 
session of  the  practice  through  similar  experiences. 
It  was  a  trait  of  Non-conformity  that  declared  itself. 
Church  fast  and  thanksgiving  days  had  their  origin 
among  communities  that  had  prophesying  assemblies. 
These  were  hot  always  composed  of  Separatists.  They 
were  popular  among  many  in  the  Church  of  England. 
Thus  this  older  custom  prepared  the  way  for  adopt- 
ing the  civil  appointment ;  and  not  only  so,  it  was  one 
means  of  making  the  Christians  of  the  three  com- 
panies acquainted  with  a  common  religious  life,  and 
afforded  the  occasion  upon  which  they  were  brought 
into  sympathy  with  one  another. 

We  have  already  followed  the  course  of  one  stream ; 
but  there  were  two  others,  and  we  shall  see  how  all 
came  together.  Historians  have  repeatedly  noted  the 
fact  that  there  were  differences  in  ecclesiastical  tem- 
perament between  the  company  of  Francis  Higginson, 
which  came  to  Salem  in  1629,  and  that  of  John 
Winthrop,  which  came  to  Boston  in  1630.  This  is 
apparent  in  the  very  fasts  they  kept  on  their  voyages 
across  the  sea.  The  story  is  told  in  the  days  of  the 
week  that  found  favor  among  them.  Insignificant  as 
it  may  appear  now,  there  was  a  time,  during  the 
struggle  between  the  Non-conformists  and  the  Church 


THE  SEA-FASTS   OF  TWO    VOYAGES.         93 

of  England,  when  both  parties  had  very  decided  pre- 
judices as  to  the  days  they  observed  for  fasting. 
The  fast  day  in  the  Church  of  England  was  Friday,  a 
remnant  of  the  dies  stationum  of  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church.  If  it  fell  to  them  to  fast  "twice  in  a 
week,"  Wednesday  and  Friday  were  the  days  selected. 
But  at  the  time  of  the  emigration  the  former  had 
fallen  into  decay,  and  Monday,  which  had  also  been 
formerly  regarded  in  England,  was  mostly  prominent 
in  the  culinary  department  as  a  "  fish  day."  The  pro- 
test against  superstitious  fasting  had  made  Tuesday 
and  Thursday  more  especially  the  days  upon  which 
fasts  should  be  kept,  if  at  all,  among  the  Non-conform- 
ists; and  this  with  design  among  some,  and  with 
an  unquestioning  following  of  custom  among  others. 
In  the  main,  the  radical  dissenter  avoided  the  obser- 
vance of  a  fast  upon  Friday.  This  was  not  only  true 
in  England,  but  for  many  years  there  was  such  a  pre- 
judice prevalent  among  the  fathers  of  New  England. 
So  late  as  1702,  Sewall  informs  us  that  when  the 
governor  asked  that  the  fast  be  on  a  Friday,  saying, 
"  Let  us  be  Englishmen,"  there  was  objection  to  it. 
A  public  fast  or  thanksgiving  upon  that  day  is  a  rare 
exception.  If  they  chanced  to  keep  a  fast  in  Virginia, 
where  the  influence  of  the  Church  of  England  was 
dominant,  it  would  naturally  be  upon  a  Friday,  but 
such  would  not  have  been  the  decision  in  Massachu- 
setts. Thursday  was  the  day  generally  preferred,  and 
as  a  second  choice  Wednesday.  As  to  fasts  in  partic- 
ular churches  on  the  occasion  of  ordaining  or  install- 
ing ministers,  no  uniformity  prevailed.  Churches, 
however,  which  for  some  reason  selected  a  particular 
day  of  the  week  for  their  own  observance,  either  by 


94  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

fasts  or  weekly  lectures,  usually  held  to  it  with  consid- 
erable attachment,  and  this  Avas  important  in  commu- 
nities where  several  churches  existed.  Therefore,  if 
we  find  a  church  keeping  a  fast  upon  another  than  its 
customary  day,  and  that  for  general  causes,  there  is 
therein  some  reason  for  concluding  that  it  was  a  pub- 
lic fast  of  which  the  record  has  disappeared.  The 
immediate  application  of  this  fact  will  appear  as  we 
turn  to  the  sea-fasts  of  the  voyages  of  Higginson  and 
Winthrop. 

On  the  13th  of  May,  1629,  there  passed  with- 
in sight  of  Land's  End  two  ships  sailing  westward. 
The  larger  was  the  Talbot  in  which  Higginson  and 
"  above  a  hundred  planters "  were  passengers.  As 
the  coast  of  Cornwall  began  to  fade  in  the  distance 
the  reverend  leader,  standing  upon  the  deck  astern, 
his  children  and  other  passengers  gathered  about  him, 
exclaimed,  "  We  will  not  say,  as  the  Separatists  were 
wont  to  say  at  their  leaving 'of  England,  'Farewell 
Babylon  !  '  '  Farewell  Rome  !  '  but  we  will  say, 
'  Farewell,  dear  England !  Farewell  the  Church  of  God 
in  England,  and  all  the  Christian  friends  there ! 
We  do  not  go  to  New  England  as  separatists  from  the 
Church  of  England,  though  we  cannot  but  separate 
from  the  corruptions  in  it,  but  we  go  to  practice  the 
positive  part  of  church  reformation,  and  propagate  the 
gospel  in  America.'  "  ^  This  scene,  so  often  referred 
to,  is  very  picturesque,  to  be  sure.  It  has  a  savor  of 
loyalty  in  it.  But  it  also  suggests  the  fact  that  many 
of  the  company  had  already  separated  from  what  they 
considered  the  corruptions  of  their  mother  church. 
We  may  be  assured  that  her  observance  of  holy  days 
1  Magnalia,  ed.  1853,  i.  362. 


THE  SEA-FASTS   OF  TWO    VOYAGES,         95 

was  one  feature  they  intended  to  leave  behind.  This 
Non-conformist  minister  had,  during  his  ministry  at 
Leicester,  fostered  gatherings  of  kindred  spirits  for 
prayer,  hearing  of  sermons,  admonishing  the  unfaith- 
ful, and  the  observance  of  fasts,  all  not  greatly  differ- 
ent from  those  of  the  Separatists  themselves.  All  they 
lacked  was  a  covenant  relation  to  constitute  them  a 
Separatist  congregation.  We  can  see  very  clearly 
what  their  opinions  were  as  to  holy  days  by  their  con- 
duct. It  is  said  of  the  21st  of  May  that  they  conse- 
crated the  day  as  "  a  solemn  fasting  and  humiliation 
to  Almighty  God,  as  a  furtherance  of  their  [our]  pres- 
ent work."  1  To  this  exercise  they  had  been  moved  by 
the  death  of  the  minister's  child  and  the  prevalence  of 
contrary  winds.  The  only  other  minister  aboard  was 
Ralph  Smith,  a  Separatist,  the  future  pastor  of  Ply- 
mouth, and  the  two  shared  the  exercises  of  the  day. 
The  sequel  is  that,  though  a  calm  continued  through- 
out the  day,  about  seven  o'clock,  after  their  services 
were  over,  a  fair  wind  sprung  up  "  as  a  manifest  evi- 
dence of  the  Lord's  hearing  their  [our]  prayers." 
*'I  heard  some  of  the  mariners  say,"  writes  Higginson, 
"  they  thought  this  was  the  fu'st  sea^-fast  that  ever  was 
kept,  and  that  they  never  heard  of  the  like  performed 
at  sea  before."  This  fast  was  upon  a  Tliursday,  and 
the  only  other  was  upon  Tuesday,  the  2d  of  June, 
both  undoubtedly  the  days  of  the  week  they  had  been 
accustomed  to  observe  in  England.  The  reasons  for 
this  latter  were  the  contrary  winds,  unwholesome  fogs 
accompanied  with  a  sultry  temperature,  and  more 
especially  the  sickness  of  some  who  had  been  attacked 

1  Higginson' s  Journal  of  his  Voyage  to  New  England,  in  Young's 
Chron.  of  Mass.,  and  Hutchinson's  Original  Papers. 


96  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

by  scurvy  and  the  smallpox.  On  that  occasion,  says 
the  writer,  "  the  Lord  heard  us  before  we  prayed  and 
gave  us  answer  before  we  called,  for  early  in  the 
morning  the  wind  turned  full  east,  being  as  fit  a  wind 
as  could  blow."  It  would  seem  also  that  they  thought 
a  divine  sanction  was  put  upon  their  practice  because 
a  wicked  fellow  among  the  crew,  who  had  railed 
against  them  as  Puritans  and  mocked  at  their  fast 
days,  fell  sick  of  the  pox  and  died,  being  the  only  one 
aboard  who  did,  excepting  the  child.  The  religious 
exercises  consisted  of  prayer,  psalm-singing,  expound- 
ing the  Scriptures,  and  preaching,  —  a  service  not  un- 
like that  among  the  Separatists.  In  reflecting  upon 
these  occasions,  near  the  close  of  his  journal,  Higginson 
makes  a  remark  which  shows  that  the  custom  was 
already  established  among  them.  "  Let  all  that  love 
and  use  fasting  and  praying  take  notice  that  it  is  as 
prevailable  by  sea  as  by  land,  wheresoever  it  is  faith- 
fully performed."  Now  surely  he  and  his  friends  were 
such  as  would  fellowship  with  the  people  of  Plymouth. 
Upon  their  arrival  at  Salem  they  found  in  the 
mind  of  Endicott  —  who  had  hitherto,  we  believe,  con- 
formed to  the  Church  of  England  —  a  kindly  opinion 
of  the  Pilgrims,  whose  physician  had  only  lately  re- 
turned home  from  ministering  to  their  sick,  having 
satisfied  the  governor  as  to  their  "  outward  forme  of 
God's  worshipe."  Morton  informs  us  that  the  move- 
ment for  church  organization  originated  with  Hig- 
ginson and  Skelton,  who  "  acquainted  the  governor 
with  their  intentions."  ^  Kev.  Francis  Bright,  the 
Conformist  minister  who  had  come  in  the  Lion's 
Whelp,  the  consort  of  the  Talbot,  was  left  out  in  the 

1  New  England's  Memorial,  p.  97. 


THE  SEA-FASTS   OF  TWO  VOYAGES.  97 

cold.  The  Non-conformists  carried  the  day  against 
some  opposition.  And  thus  we  come  upon  the  occa- 
sion of  their  first  fast  day  at  Salem.  About  a  month 
after  Higginson's  arrival,  Charles  Gott  writes  thus 
of  it  to  Bradford:  "  The  20th  of  July,  it  pleased  y« 
Lord  to  move  y®  hart  of  our  Gov'  to  set  it  aparte 
for  a  solemne  day  of  humiliation,  for  y®  choyce  of  a 
pastor  and  teacher.  The  former  parte  of  y®  day 
being  spente  in  praier  &  teaching,  the  later  parte 
aboute  y®  election."  ^  Skelton  and  Higginson  were 
chosen  and  were  "  separated  for  their  charge  ;  "  but,  as 
no  covenant  relation  had  as  yet  been  entered  into,  the 
formal  investiture  was  postponed.  Moreover,  the  last 
two  of  the  five  ships  —  the  Four  Sisters  and  the 
Mayflower  —  had  not  yet  arrived,  wherein  "  more  able 
men"  for  the  church  officers  might  come.^  With- 
out doubt  aU  had  arrived  before  the  6th  of  August,^ 
and  therefore  that  day  was  also  set  apart  as  a  fast 
day,  upon  which  they  entered  into  covenant,  chose 
elders  and  deacons,  and  consecrated  them  to  service. 
When  all  the  circumstances  are  kept  in  mind,  it  will 
be  seen  that  this  was  a  memorable  day.  Apart  from 
its  ecclesiastical  importance,  it  was  an  occasion  for 
fellowship  between  the  people  of  Salem  and  Plymouth. 
Governor  Bradford  was  there,  having  been  hindered 
by  adverse  winds,  so  that  he  only  came  in  time  to  give 

1  Gott's  letter  to  Bradford,  in  Bradford's  History,  p.  265.  This 
day,  having  been  ordered  by  the  g-overnor,  must  be  considered  a  pub- 
lic fast,  though  its  occasion  was  ecclesiastical. 

2  Bradford's  "  Letter-Book  "  in  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  I.  vol.  iii. 

^  These  two  ships  were  expected  to  follow  the  Talbot,  which  had 
made  a  quick  voyage,  in  three  weeks.  They  could  not  have  ar- 
rived before  July  20,  and  Bradford  says  of  the  Mayflower  passen- 
gers, they  came  "  aboute  August." 


98  FAST  AND  THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

the  right  hand  of  fellowship.  Some  others  had  come 
with  him.  But  this  more  than  all,  thirty-five  of  the 
Leyden  ilock  were  there,  having  come  as  passengers 
in  the  Mayflower.  To  them  it  was  a  happy  and 
tender  reunion,  as  they  saw  once  more  the  faces  of 
their  fellow-exiles,  from  whom  they  had  been  so  long 
separated.  As  the  day  declined,  and,  according  to 
the  custom,  they  broke  the  fast  together,  —  the 
Non-conformists  of  England  and  the  Separatists  from 
Holland,  —  what  recitals  of  experience  there  must 
have  been,  what  Christian  sympathies  must  have  filled 
all  hearts  !  This  we  must  believe,  that  the  fast  day 
August  6,  1629,  was  an  occasion  upon  which  the 
emigrants  who  had  found  a  home  at  Salem  were  bap- 
tized with  the  spirit  of  the  Pilgrims. 

Let  us  now  follow  the  voyage  of  John  Winthrop's 
company.  On  March  29,  1630,  ''  Easter  Monday," 
they  were  "  riding  at  the  Cowes  near  the  Isle  of 
Wight."  That  was  a  time  proper  enough  for  even  a 
churchman  to  set  forth.  They,  too,  bade  a  loyal  fare- 
well to  the  Church  of  England,  but  in  another  form. 
In  a  "  Humble  Request  ...  to  the  rest  of  their  Bre- 
thren in  and  of  the  Church  of  England,"  etc.,  they 
sought  her  prayers,  and  cleared  themselves  of  aU  sus- 
picions of  separation  from  their  mother  church.  It 
must  be  confessed  that  they  were  sincere,  and  intended 
to  conform  in  essentials  at  least.  What  were  their  fast 
and  thanksgiving  days  ?  The  first  was  a  fast  on  Friday, 
April  2,  before  they  were  on  the  way,  of  which  we 
know  nothing  eventful,  except  that  two  of  the  lands- 
men kept  thanksgiving  on  "  strong  water  "  that  day, 
and  fasted  on  bread  and  water  the  next.^  As  we 
1  Winthrop's  History  of  New  England,  i.  4. 


THE  SEA-FASTS   OF  TWO  VOYAGES.         99 

read  on,  we  notice  that  on  Friday,  April  23,  they 
celebrated  a  festival.  That  was  the  day  dedicated  to 
St.  George,  and  was  an  Englishman's  feast  day.  In 
this  manner  they  kept  it.  The  captain  of  the  Ara- 
bella, says  Winthrop,  "  put  forth  his  ancient  in  the 
poop  and  heaved  out  his  skiff  and  lowered  his  top- 
sails, to  give  sign  to  his  consorts  that  they  should 
come  aboard  us  to  dinner.  About  eleven  of  the  clock, 
our  captain  sent  his  skiff  and  fetched  aboard  us  the 
masters  of  the  other  two  ships,  and  Mr.  Pynchon,  and 
they  dined  with  us  in  the  round-house,  for  the  lady 
and  gentlewomen  dined  in  the  great  cabin."  ^  On 
Friday,  May  21,  they  kept  a  fast,  as  also  on  the  even- 
ing before  in  the  great  cabin.  This  was  doubtless  on 
account  of  the  weather.^  On  Friday,  June  4,  they 
kept  another  fast  for  the  same  cause,  and  with  some 
success,  for  the  next  day,  a  "  handsome  gale  "  arising, 
they  had  a  thanksgiving.^  On  Monday,  June  7, 
they  were  off  the  Banks,  and  had  great  success  with 
cod-lines,  which  they  counted  very  seasonable,  as  it 
was  a  "  fish-day."  *  Such  are  the  days  of  record  in 
Winthrop's  journal.  They  invariably  chose  the  day 
of  the  week  popular  among  churchmen  for  fasting, 
and  we  tliink  the  fact  indicates  what  shade  of  Non- 
conformity they  represented. 

The  foremost  of  the  fleet  reached  port  Saturday, 
June  12,  and,  though  some  went  ashore,  most  returned 
to  the  ship,  declining  to  stay,   says   Felt,    "because 

^  Winthrop's  History,  i.  14. 

2  Ibid.,  i.  21.  Savage  did  not  seem  to  understand  the  case  when  he 
added  the  note  :  "  In  this  bad  weather  they  were  probably  without 
food." 

3  Ibid.,  i.  2.5,  26. 
*  Ibid.,  i.  26. 


100         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

Skelton  supposes  that  he  cannot  conscientiously  admit 
them  to  his  communion,  nor  allow  one  of  their  children 
to  be  baptized.  The  reason  for  such  scruple  is  that 
they  are  not  members  of  reformed  churches  like  those 
of  Salem  and  Plymouth."  ^  It  was  appropriate  that 
a  thanksgiving  day  should  be  kept  on  accoimt  of  the 
safe  arrival,  especially  after  such  a  stormy  passage. 
But  this  was  postponed  imtil  July  8,  awaiting  the 
last  straggler  of  the  fleet,  the  Success,  which  came 
to  port  July  6.2  Winthrop  informs  us  that  this 
day  was  kept  "  in  all  the  plantations,"  by  which  he 
means  Salem,  Charlestown,  and  Dorchester.  Doubt- 
less all  had  offered  up  their  thanksgivings  before  tliis 
in  connection  with  their  Sabbath  services,  as  was  the 
case  at  Dorchester  June  6,  the  first  Sunday  after 
their  landing.  Possibly  church  days  had  been  ob- 
served. But  this  was  a  thanksgiving  proposed  by 
the  civil  authority,  —  the  first  in  the  Massachusetts 
Bay  Colony.  It  must  have  done  something  toward 
producing  a  unity  of  feeling  among  those  who,  at 
least,  had  not  been  in  perfect  accord. 

The  occasion  of  their  first  fast  was  even  more  im- 
portant. A  grievous  sickness,  induced  largely  by 
the  hardships  of  the  voyage,  was  upon  them.  Many 
died.  It  seemed  best  to  the  main  body  of  the  col- 
onists, then  located  at  Charlestown,  to  keep  a  day 
of  humiliation  '^  to  pacify  the  Lord's  wrath ; "  and, 
as  no  church  had  yet  been  formed,  it  was  deemed 
the  proper  time  to  enter  into  covenant  relations.^ 
The  date  was  Friday,  July  30,  the  day  of  the  week^ 

1  Felt's  Ecc,  Hist.,  i.  134. 

2  Winthrop's  History,  i.  35. 

8  New  England's  Memorial,  p.  109  ;  Bradford's  Hist,,  p.  277. 


THE  SEA-FASTS   OF  TWO  VOYAGES.       101 

it  will  be  noted,  upon  whicli  Winthrop's  company  had 
been  accustomed  to  fast.  The  church  was  formed, 
and  upon  a  subsequent  fast  day,  Friday,  August  27, 
inducted  its  ministry  into  office.^  But  the  feature  of 
the  fagt  July__30  was  its  larger  relations.  It  was 
proposed  by  Governor  Winthrop,  who  did  not  assume 
to  issue  an  order  for  the  day,  and  it  was  consented  to 
by  the  action  of  the  churches.  The  Salem  church,  it 
appears,  would  not  act  except  by  the  advice  of  Fuller, 
Allerton,  and  Winslow,  then  at  Salem.  These  wisely, 
and  in  tender  regard  for  their  afflicted  neighbors, 
indorsed  the  request,  and  wrote  also  to  Bradford 
forwarding  Winthrop's  suggestion  that  the  Plymouth 
people  also  keep  the  day  in  their  behalf.  The  plan 
was  doubtless  carried  out,  and  for  the  first  time  in 
New  England  history  there  was  a  special  religious  oc- 
casion in  which  all  the  settlements  were  united.  It 
might  not  have  been  the  day  of  the  week  that  those 
at  Salem  would  have  selected,  but  that  was  a  minor 
consideration,  and  besides  their  visitors  from  Plymouth 
had  outgrown  such  a  prejudice.  On  account  of  its 
sorrowful  cause  it  awakened  mutual  sympathy,  and 
kindled  a  spirit  of  fraternity  among  them.  It  estab- 
lished a  general  acceptance  of  the  custom  as  belong- 
ing to  their  theocratic  government.  Thus  the  various 
shades  of  Non-conformity  came  into  agreement  upon 
this  idea  of  Puritanism,  shaking  off  the  holy  days 
of  their  fathers  and  taking  a  new  system  in  place  of 
the  old. 

1  Winthrop's  Hist.,  i.  36. 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

THE     ORDERINGS     OF     DIVINE    PROVIDENCE     IN     THE 
BAY    COLONY. 

1631-1635. 

A  WORTHY  New  England  father,  Captain  Roger 
Clap,  of  Dorchester,  in  detailing  the  experiences  of 
the  early  settlers  many  years  thereafter,  offers  this 
cogent  reflection  :  "  You  have  better  Food  and  Rai- 
ment than  was  in  former  Times,  but  have  you  better 
Hearts  than  your  Fore-fathers  had  ?  "  ^  Comparatively 
few  of  their  descendants  realize  the  extremity  of  the 
hunger  which  the  fathers  endured.  It  was  not  merely 
confined  to  a  few  occasions,  when  they  may  have 
counted  their  kernels  of  com,  but  rather  a  self-denial 
continued  from  year  to  year,  when  com  was  precious 
because  they  knew  not  what  the  next  season  might 
bring  forth,  when  they  could  not  afford  the  meats 
they  needed,  and  when  at  best  their  articles  of  food 
were  so  few  that  they  were  reduced  to  such  a  sim- 
plicity of  life  that  a  single  dish  was  a  bounteous  re- 
past. At  the  same  time,  all  who  read  these  early 
writers  must  notice,  and  view  with  profound  respect, 
the  deep  and  reverent  gratitude  with  which  they  re- 
garded such  temporal  mercies,  —  a  gratitude  which 
characterized  the  thanksgiving  occasion,  and  is  a  last- 
ing tribute  to  the  noble  quality  of  their  hearts. 

1  Memoirs  of  Roger  Clap,  in  Coll.  of  Dor.  Antiq,  and  Hist  Soc., 
1844,  p.  42  ;  also  in  Young's  Chron,  of  Mass. 


ORDE RINGS   OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.     103 

We  turn  now  to  a  thanksgiving  day  in  the  Bay 
Colony  in  which  they  received  the  sad  impress  of 
starvation  experiences,  —  a  thanksgiving  made  out  of 
a  fast  through  a  good  Providence,  and  just  such  an 
instance  of  deliverance  a^-^ade  for  the  keeping  of 
the  harvest  festival  at  Plymouth. 

The  autumn  of  1630  foimd  the  colonists  domiciled 
in  hastily  built  huts,  in  which,  as  the  nights  grew 
cold,  they  suffered  much  from  exposure.  Sickness 
prevailed  among  them,  which  was  only  augmented  by 
the  nature  of  their  food.  The  first  interest  m  their 
new  surroundings  had  passed,  and  the  despondency 
and  gloom,  perhaps  in  some  cases  of  homesickness, 
but  in  all  of  anxiety  for  the  future,  had  settled  down 
upon  them.  Winthrop  had  happily  foreseen  that 
scarcity  would  soon  overwhelm  the  colony,  for  part 
of  the  provisions  had  spoiled,  and  many  had  come  in- 
sufficiently supplied,  under  the  impression  of  finding 
abundance.  Some  exchanged  the  provisions  they  would 
need  during  the  winter  for  beaver  skins,  so  that  it 
was  necessary  to  prohibit  this  trafficking  and  all  ex- 
portation. Of  course  they  were  too  late  in  the  season 
to  plant  their  seed,  and  doubtless  they  overestimated 
the  supply  of  corn  among  their  savage  neighbors. 
So  the  wise  governor,  anticipating  starvation,  had  en- 
gaged Captain  William  Peirce,  of  the  ship  Lyon, 
to  go  in  all  haste  to  the  nearest  port  in  Ireland  for 
provisions.  At  sea  he  met  the  dismasted  ship  Am- 
brose, and  towed  her  home  to  Bristol.  This  caused 
delay,  so  much  so  that  he  was  thought  to  have  been 
shipwrecked.  As  the  days  went  by,  the  danger  be- 
came more  apparent.  In  October  a  pinnace  was  sent 
to  trade  with  the  Narragansetts,  and,  though  about 


104        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

one  hundred  bushels  of  com  were  secured,  it  afforded 
only  a  temporary  relief.  The  winter  came,  and  with 
it  increased  suffering.  The  only  food  the  poor  had 
was  acorns,  ground-nuts,  mussels,  and  clams.  Cotton 
Mather  relates  that  one  man,  "  inviting  his  friends  to 
a  dish  of  clams,  at  the  table  gave  thanks  to  Heaven, 
who  '  had  given  them  to  suck  the  abundance  of  the 
seas,  and  of  the  treasures  hid  in  the  sands. ' "  ^  It 
was  not  a  prophecy  which  Moses  had  given  for  the 
occasion,  but  it  was  surely  applicable  and  doubtless 
encouraging.  Boats  were  fitted  out,  and  were  con- 
stantly engaged  in  fishing.  At  low  tide  the  women 
in  numbers  went  forth  to  dig  in  the  clam-banks.  A 
conversation  among  them  is  thus  reported  by  an  early 
writer.^  One  woman  says :  "  My  husband  hath  trav- 
ailed so  far  as  Phmouth  .  .  .  and  hath  with  great 
toile  brought  a  little  corne  home  with  him."  A  sec- 
ond responds :  "  Our  last  peck  of  meale  is  now  in  the 
oven  at  home  a  baking,  and  many  of  our  godly  neigh- 
bours have  quite  spent  all,  and  wee  owe  one  loafe  of 
that  little  wee  have."  Then  a  third  speaks :  ''  My 
husband  hath  ventured  hmiselfe  among  the  Indians 
for  corne,  and  can  get  none,  as  also  our  honoured 
Governour  hath  distributed  his  so  far,  that  a  day  or 
two  more  will  put  an  end  to  his  store."  Roger  Clap 
writes  thus  of  the  famine :  "  Bread  was  so  very 
scarce,  that  sometimes  I  thought  the  very  crusts  of 
my  father's  table  would  have  been  very  sweet  unto 
me.     And  when  I  could  have  meal  and  water  and 

Magnolia^  i.  78.  Other  historians  have  attributed  this  apt  quota- 
tion of  Deut.  xxxiii.  19  to  Elder  Brewster.  Goodwin's  Pilgrim  Be- 
public,  p.  242. 

^  Johnson^s  Wonder-working  Providence,  p.  49, 


ORDERINGS   OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.      105 

salt  boiled  together  it  was  so  good,  who  could  wish 
better?"^ 

It  was  to  such  straits  they  had  come  by  midwinter, 
and  these  trials  moved  them  to  appoint  a  day  of  fast- 
ing and  prayer.  The  exact  day  set  we  do  not  know, 
but  we  conjecture  that  it  was  during  the  second  week 
of  February .2  It  was  on  the  5th  of  February,  probably 
a  few  days  before  the  intended  fast,  that  relief  came. 
According  to  Mather,  it  was  "  when  Winthrop  was  dis- 
tributing the  last  handful  of  meal  in  the  barrel  unto  a 
poor  man  distressed  by  the  wolf  at  the  door,  at  that 
instant  they  spied  a  ship  arrived  at  the  harbour's 
mouth,  laden  with  provisions  for  them  all."  ^  The 
ship  was  the  Lyon,  which  Wmthrop  had  dispatched 
for  relief.  Her  cargo  consisted  principally  of  wheat, 
meal,  peas,  oatmeal,  beef  and  pork,  cheese,  butter  and 
suet,  and,  what  was  of  greatest  importance  to  the 
sick,  supplies  of  lemon  juice,  a  cure  for  the  scurvy. 
The  whole  was  purchased  for  the  common  stock,  and 
distributed   impartially  as   there  was  need.     Circum- 

1  Mem.  of  Roger  Clap,  in  Coll.  of  Dor.  Antiq.  and  Hist.  Soc. 

2  Savage  says :  "  The  Charlestown  records  mention  that  a  fast  had 
been  appointed  for  the  next  day  after  this  ship's  coming"  (Win- 
throp, i.  50).  Prince  says:  "Feb.  5th  was  the  very  day  before  the 
appointed  fast "  (Prince's  Annals,  ed.  1826,  p.  341).  Both  foimd 
their  authority  in  the  Chariesto\vn  records.  But  these,  as  given  in 
Young's  Chron.  of  Mass.,  p.  385,  say  :  "  Before  the  very  day  appointed 
to  seek  the  Lord  by  fasting  and  prayer,  about  the  month  of  February 
or  March,  in  comes  Mr.  Pearce,  laden  with  provisions."  "  Before 
the  very  day  "  is  not  equivalent  to  "  the  very  day  before"  Besides, 
February  5  was  a  Saturday.  They  would  not  have  been  likely  to  set 
such  a  fast  on  Sunday.  Probably  it  was  to  have  been  that  week,  and 
on  Sunday  it  was  announced.  The  labor  of  distributing  the  provisions 
would  require  a  postponement.  Hutchinson  (i.  23)  says  they  had 
appointed  the  22d  for  the  fast,  and  changed  it  to  a  thanksgiving.  But 
they  would  not  have  set  a  day  so  far  distant  in  their  extremity. 

3  Magnalia,  i.  122. 


106         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

stances  no  longer  being  appropriate  for  a  fast,  the 
governor  and  council  ordered  a  thanksgiving  for  the 
22d  of  February.!  And  such  was  the  deliverance 
which  made  a  profound  impression  upon  the  minds  of 
that  distressed  people.  It  was  recognized  as  a  signal 
providence  of  God.  About  their  firesides  its  story 
was  told  by  fathers  to  their  children  for  many  a  day 
in  praise  of  the  goodness  of  God  and  his  guardian- 
ship over  the  colony. 

This,  however,  did  not  make  an  end  of  the  distresses 
they  had  for  want  of  food.  Other  lessons  were  yet 
to  be  learned  in  similar  trials.  That  rigid  economy 
which  affected  their  whole  manner  of  life  was  the 
result  of  repeated  seasons  of  scarcity.  Though  the 
remaining  months  of  that  year  were  less  eventful, 
they  were  at  no  time  relieved  of  anxiety.  The  plant- 
ers were  busy  preparing  their  fields  and  cultivating 
their  crops.  Houses  were  to  be  built,  the  necessity 
for  which  had  been  learned  through  the  suffering  of 
the  previous  winter.  Existence  was  at  best  a  strug- 
gle. Had  it  not  been  for  the  ships  arriving  from 
time  to  time  during  the  summer,  they  must  certainly 
have  been  greatly  reduced  before  their  first  harvest 
could  be  gathered.  The  season  of  1631  was  fairly 
good,  and  Winthrop  says  there  was  a  "  plentiful 
crop."  But  immigrants  were  coming  in  every  ship, 
poorly  provided,  who  could  not  plant  until  the  next 
year.  The  fields  were  not  extensive  and  were  poorly 
tilled.  Cattle  were  being  brought  over,  but  so  many 
died  on  the  ocean  that  those  surviving  were  doubly 

^  It  is  probable  that  Dudley,  in  his  letter  written  a  few  weeks 
afterwards  (Young's  Chron.  of  Mass.,  p.  325),  refers  to  a  sermon 
preached  by  John  Wilson  on  that  day,  when  he  speaks  of  his  treating 
the  causes  for  God's  dealing  thus  with  his  people. 


ORDERINGS   OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.      107 

valuable,  and  the  owners  could  better  afford  to  starve 
on  clams  than  destroy  their  hope  for  the  future.  So 
they  contmued  throughout  the  year  on  short  allow- 
ance. The  spring  of  1632  came.  It  was  cold  and 
wet.  Com  planted  in  the  lowlands,  which  were 
cleared  and  could  be  easier  cultivated,  was  an  utter 
failure.  Some  fiekls  that  would  otherwise  have 
yielded  well  were  destroyed  by  worms,  and,  wliile 
those  who  had  tilled  the  sandy  soil  did  better  that 
year,  the  harvest  was  very  inadequate.  Again  they 
were  dependent,  to  a  large  extent,  upon  the  products 
of  the  sea ;  but  it  was  not  so  easy  to  obtain  them, 
for  the  winter  of  1632-3  was  very  severe.^  The 
Charles  River  was  frozen  over,  and  successive  snow- 
storms piled  the  drifts  high  round  alK)ut.  They  were 
only  delivered  by  the  coming  of  a  ship  in  March  from 
Virginia,  laden  with  com.  In  the  spring  their  strug- 
gles were  renewed.  They  had  hopes  that  their  third 
planting,  of  greater  extent  than  the  two  years  pre- 
vious, would  release  them  from  the  tyranny  of  want. 
But  erelong  a  new  enemy  was  discovered,  —  the 
drought,  which  they  learned  in  subsequent  years  to 
dread.  They  assembled  in  their  churches,  though 
at  what  times  we  know  not,  and  besought  the  Lord  for 
his  mercy.  Doubtless  the  season  was  well  advanced, 
and  their  com  was  withering  in  its  earing  time. 
Johnson  says :  "  Thus  it  befell,  the  extreame  parching 
heate  of  the  sun  .  .  .  began  to  scorch  the  Herbs  and 
Fruits,  which  was  the  cliiefest  meanes  of  their  lively- 
hood."  2     The  same  writer  emphasizes  the  urgency  of 

^  Johnson's  Wonder-working  Providence,  p.  55 ;    Young's  Chron.  of 
Mass.,  p.  386. 

2  Johnson's  Wonder-working  Providence,  p.  57. 


108        FAST  AND  THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

their  prayers.  They  could  not  refrain  from  tears  in 
their  religious  assemblies  as  they  importuned  God  for 
rain.  The  answer  came,  and  the  story  is  a  repetition 
of  that  recorded  of  Plymouth  ten  years  before.  In 
the  quaint  phraseology  of  this  author:  "As  they 
powred  out  water  before  the  Lord  so  at  that  very 
instant  the  Lord  showred  down  water  on  their  Gar- 
dens and  Fields,  which  with  great  industry  they  had 
planted,  and  now  had  not  the  Lord  caused  it  to 
raine  speedily  their  hope  of  food  had  beene  lost."  ^ 
Wherefore  they  celebrated  his  goodness  in  a  thanks- 
giving October  16,  the  first  public  thanksgiving  of  the 
Bay  Colony  in  which  the  gathering  of  the  harvest 
bore  a  conspicuous  part.^  Thus,  be  it  noted,  the  two 
colonies  of  Massachusetts,  in  their  early  experiences, 
had  the  same  reason  to  recognize  God  as  the  giver  of 
harvests,  and  thus  in  hunger,  like  Ruth  and  Naomi, 
they  were  pledged  to  Him  and  to  one  another. 

Yet  it  cannot  be  recorded  that,  after  this  even,  they 
had  general  abundance.  A  scarcity,  which  enforced 
economy  if  not  suffering,  continued  throughout  the 
years  1634  and  1635.  Such  a  crisis  was  presented  in 
February  of  the  latter  year  that  a  general  fast  was 
proclaimed  for  the  25th  by  the  churches,  the  court 

^  Johnson's  Wonder-working  Providence,  p.  58.  The  Indians  were 
moved  to  amazement,  and  regard  for  the  white  man's  God,  as  in  the 
instance  at  Plymouth,  and  upon  a  later  occasion  at  Norwich,  Conn., 
when  the  prayers  of  Mr.  Fitch  were  answered.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc. 
Coll.,  I.  vol.  ix.  p.  87. 

^  "  Here  must  not  be  omitted  the  endearing  affections  Mr.  John 
Wilson  had  to  the  worke  in  hand,  exceedingly  setting  forth  (in  his  ser- 
mon this  day)  the  Grace  of  Christ  in  providing  such  meet  helps  for 
furthering  thereof,  really  esteeming  them  beyond  so  many  ship  loading 
of  Gold"  {Wonder-working  Providence,  etc.,  p.  59).  Thus  in  his 
thanksgiving  sermon  Wilson  referred  to  the  arrival  of  John  Cotton 
and  others. 


ORDERINGS   OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.      109 

not  being  at  hand.  ^  But,  not  to  weary  the  reader 
with  these  recitals,  it  seems  evident  that  these  were 
years  of  training  in  a  simplicity  of  Kving  such  as 
they  had  not  practiced  in  England,  and  they  surely 
abounded  in  such  mercies  as  taught  them  to  admire  a 
"  wonder-working  Providence."  And  as  we  think  of 
them  enduring  such  trials  in  succeeding  years,  rejoi- 
cing in  the  springtime  hopes  and  braving  the  autumn 
disappointment,  —  those  to  many  of  whom  the  farmer's 
life  was  new,  —  we  can  appreciate  the  force  of  the  ten- 
dency toward  a  harvest  thanksgiving  day. 

Another  prominent  cause  for  thanksgiving  during 
those  early  years  was  the  arrival  of  friends.  Every 
one  who  had  endured  the  perils  of  the  sea  wondered 
that  whole  fleets  came  in  safety.  There  was  one 
thanksgiving  day  for  such  cause  which  was  unique. 
On  the  2d  of  November,  1631,  there  came  in  the  ship 
Lyon  the  wife  of  Governor  Winthrop  and  her  fam- 
ily. Upon  the  4th  they  landed.  Margaret  Winthrop 
was  to  be  "  the  first  lady  of  the  land."  It  was  an 
event  which  called  forth  the  latent  chivalry  of  the 
fathers.  The  military  were  summoned  to  arms  to  do 
her  honor.  We  do  not  know  of  another  New  Eng- 
land lady  who  has  been  escorted  to  her  home  from 
the  landing  by  "  companies  in  arms,"  or  greeted  with 
such  salutes  as  "  vollies  of  shot."  Nor  has  any 
since  had  the  like  donation  of  ''  fat  hogs,  kids,  venison, 
poultry,  geese  and  partridges."  The  scene  should 
be  remembered.  It  manifested  a  sentiment  quite  re- 
freshing in  that  surrounding  of  uncultivated  wilder- 
ness.     For  divers  days  there  was  feasting,  during 

1  Johnson's  Wonder-working  Providence^  p.  78 ;  Winthrop's  Hist, 
i.  216,  217,  220. 


^/^^ 


110  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

wliich  many  doubtless  took  occasion  to  repay  the  gov- 
ernor's kindness  to  them  in  the  previous  winter,  and 
Friday,  November  11,  was  kept  as  a  day  of  thanks- 
giving. Of  the  days  observed  during  the  period  of 
which  we  are  writing,  the  arrival  of  ships  or  friends 
is  mentioned  in  connection  with  six.i 

We  shall  not  wonder  that  such  a  religious  people 
looked  especially  for  the  ordering  of  Divine  Providence 
in  respect  to  their  ministry.  No  church  was  formed 
without  a  fast  day,  and  no  minister  installed.  This 
early  custom  grew  into  a  universal  practice  in  all 
the  New  England  colonies,  and  in  the  local  community 
they  were  days  of  considerable  importance.  Johnson, 
in  his  "  Wonder-working  Providence,"  relates  the  fact 
that  the  Boston  church  became  somewhat  discouraged 
in  waiting  for  their  minister,  John  Wilson,  who  had 
returned  to  England  in  1631  to  bring  over  his  wife. 
"  Their  eyes  now  began  to  fail  in  missing  of  their  ex- 
pectation, they  according  to  their  common  course  in 
time  of  great  strates,  set  and  appointed  a  day  wholy 
to  be  spent  in  seeking  the  pleasing  face  of  God,"  but 
the  Lord  "  heard  them  before  they  cried,  and  the  af- 
ternoone  before  the  day  appointed  brought  him  whom 
they  so  much  desired  in  safety  to  shore."  ^  This  day 
was  a  Sunday,  May  27, 1632,  which  instead  they  kept 
as  a  thanksgiving.  Only  a  few  days  after  this  there 
came  Thomas  Welde,  whom  also  the  Boston  church 
much  desired  to  secure ;  but  he  was  wanted  at  Eox- 
bury.  Thereupon  both  churches  took  to  fasting  and 
prayer.    Whether  the  former  did  not  sufficiently  hum- 

1  The  dates  are  November  11,  1631;  June  13,  1632;  September 
27,  1632  ;  June  19,  1633  ;  October  16,  1633  ;  August  20,  1634. 

2  Johnson's  Wonder-working  Providence^  p.  56;  Winthrop's  Hist.^ 
i.  92. 


T 


ORDEEINGS   OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.      Ill 

ble  themselves,  or  were  not  so  urgent  in  their  "  impor- 
tunings,"  they  lost  him,  and  he  became  the  minister 
at  Roxbury. 

The  terrible  devastation  of  the  smallpox  among  ^ 
the  Indians  did  not,  as  perhaps  we  might  expect,  call 
forth  any  recognition  at  the  time.  It  was  not  noted 
as  a  dispensation  of  Providence.  But  years  after- 
wards, when  the  savages  rose  against  them,  they 
turned  back  to  that  event  as  God's  way  of  clearing 
the  country  round  about  for  white  settlers,  and  pre- 
serving them  from  being  overwhelmed  in  their  weak- 
ness. Thus  Amos  Adams  speaks  of  it :  "  And  lest, 
after  aU,  the  savages  should  prove  too  hard  for  them,  .^ 
in  1633  the  small  pox  made  dreadful  havock  among  ^ 
them  and  swept  away  almost  whole  plantations  of 
Indians."  ^ 

All  their  attention,  however,  was  not  devoted,  even 
in  their  times  of  famine,  to  themselves.  Every  ship 
was  welcome,  like  the  modern  newspaper,  for  its  tid- 
ings of  events  across  the  sea.  They  had  enemies 
there  who  were  spreading  evil  reports  of  their  religious 
dissent  from  the  Church  of  England.  Their  prayers 
were  offered,  in  the  tone  of  the  Psalms  of  David,  that 
these  hostile  plans  might  be  brought  to  naught.  So 
when  tlie  favorable  news  came  they  had  cause  for 
thanksgiving,  as  on  June  19,  1833.  They  were  also 
thinking  and  conversing  upon  the  larger  concerns  of 
Protestantism  abroad.  It  was  plain  to  them  that  they 
lived  in  trying  times.  Courage  was  aroused  within 
their  bosoms  as  they  thought  of  their  own  colony  as 
the  hope  of  the  reformed  among  the  English  people. 
These   Puritans  are  sometimes  criticised  as  men  of 

^  A  Concise  Historical  Vieiv,  etc.,  fast  sermon,  April  6,  1769,  p.  12.  ^ 


112        FAST  AND  THANKSGIVING  DA  YS. 

narrow  minds.  They  were  not,  in  the  truest  sense, 
and  though  they  may  have  been  bigoted  they  were 
not  more  so  than  their  opponents.  Intellectually 
they  were  strong  men,  of  large  information.  The 
vigor  and  progressiveness  of  the  English  universities 
crossed  the  sea  with  them.  We  are  to  think  of  them 
in  1632,  amidst  all  their  adversities,  as  twice  as- 
sembled in  their  sanctuaries,  ^  when  the  tardy  mes- 
sengers brought  them  news,  to  celebrate  the  victories 
of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  whose  armies  were  sweeping 
southward  against  the  Catholic  forces  of  Europe  to 
rescue  Protestantism  and  emancipate  religion.  The 
King  of  Sweden  and  the  Emperor  of  Austria  played 
unwittingly  the  parts  of  David  and  Saul  in  the  dra- 
matic language  of  their  supplications.  Those  who 
wielded  the  sword  in  Europe  were  rushing  into  their 
battles,  singing,  "  A  mighty  fortress  is  our  God,"  and 
these,  whose  struggle  was  none  the  less  heroic,  were 
responding,  — 

"  O  Lord  my  God,  I  put  my  trust 
And  confidence  in  Thee." 

So,  as  a  detached  wing  of  the  same  army,  the  colo- 
nists were  watching  with  deepest  interest  the  more 
conspicuous  charge  of  another  division,  in  whose  vic- 
tory they  rejoiced  as  bringing  glory  to  their  common 
Commander.  We  mistake  the  early  religious  life  of 
New  England  if  we  do  not  judge  it  as  having  this 
relation  to  historic  events  frequently  commemorated 
in  their  fast  and  thanksgiving  services.  Then  the 
thought  of  such  days  encompassed  the  concerns  of 
nations,  and  the  universal  progress  of  God's  kingdom. 

1  June  13  and  September  27,  1632. 


ORDEPdNGS   OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.      113 

Now,  it  is  oftentimes  true  that  a  guardsman's  belt  can 
encircle  the  main  cause  for  gratitude.  It  becomes  us 
to  credit  our  forefathers  with  this  intelligent  and 
broad  sympathy  with  the  religious  movements  of  their 
time. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

A   FAST   SERMON   IN   COURT. 

1635-1640. 

The  painter  has  frequent  chance  to  notice  how  one 
color  is  changed  by  the  shghtest  admixture  of  another. 
So  the  tint  which  a  religious  controversy  assumes 
in  history  would  oftentimes  be  greatly  altered  by  a 
knowledge  of  the  personal  elements  entering  into  it. 
A  church  trouble  usually  has  social  distinctions  or 
individual  offenses  to  nourish  it,  and  these,  though 
apparent  at  the  time,  do  not  pass  into  open  record  and 
soon  disappear  from  view,  leaving  future  generations 
to  wonder  "  how  great  a  matter  a  little  fire  kindleth." 
This  is  true,  we  believe,  of  the  Antinomian  Contro- 
versy in  the  Bay  Colony.  Had  there  survived  a  gos- 
siping newspaper  account  of  the  affair,  we  might  see 
how  little  part,  after  all,  the  doctrinal  dispute  had  in 
the  disturbance.  Allowing  that  a  difference  of  opin- 
ion on  certain  theological  tenets  was  the  main  cause, 
there  was  at  the  same  time  a  condition  of  social  life 
which  furnished  a  beginning  for  the  excitement,  and, 
once  under  way,  there  were  personal  animosities  to 
keep  it  up. 

From  the  first,  there  was  a  deference  paid  among 
some  in  the  Bay  Colony  to  "  men  of  quality."  Some 
were  such  themselves,  —  men  and  women  of  station 
and  means  in  England.     They  were  needed,  both  for 


A   FAST  SERMON  IN  COURT,  115 

the  wealth  they  brought  and  the  mfluence  they  com- 
manded at  court.  When  word  was  brought  in  1635 
of  the  prospect  of  such  emigrants  the  colonists  rejoiced, 
and  none  such  ever  missed  a  cordial  reception.  Hence 
the  problem  presented  itseK  as  to  the  honors  and 
emoluments  which  could  be  offered  to  such  of  the 
nobihty  as  might  come  over.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  the  election  of  counselors  for  hf e  —  an  honor  only 
bestowed  upon  Winthrop,  Dudley,  and  Endicott  —  was 
proposed  by  John  Cotton  as  a  solution  of  the  diffi- 
culty.^ It  seems  quite  natural,  upon  reflection,  that 
some,  who  had  not  been  counted  as  gentlemen  before, 
should  now  have  ambitions  to  be  reckoned  among  the 
aristocracy  of  New  England.  This  desire  became  so 
prominent  as  to  give  offense,  and  the  General  Court 
took  notice  of  it.  That  legislation  against  "  fashions," 
which  seems  so  strange  at  this  day,  was  largely  the 
rebuke  such  received  from  some  who  believed  in  Puri- 
tan simplicity,  probably  assisted  by  others  who  did  not 
fancy  the  aspirations  of  their  inferiors.  Wearing  of 
"  laces  and  ruffles,"  "  slashed  clothes,"  and  "  gold  and 
silver  girdles  "  characterized  the  nobility  in  England, 
and  the  majority,  who  were  very  plain  people,  would 
not  permit  the  setting  up  of  a  claim  to  superiority 
upon  such  vanities.  "  It  nourished  pride,"  they  were 
wont  to  say .2  The  many,  who  constituted  the  nursing  K^ 
fathers  of  democracy,  though  in  some  instances  of 
better  quality  themselves,  did  not  wish  to  see  the 
nobility  established  in  New  England. 

1  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Winthrop,  i.  143,  144. 

2  The  fii-st  law  against  fashions  was  passed  in  1634.  There  was 
more  legislation  in  1036  and  1639 ;  but  in  1644  these  laws  were  re- 
pealed. Subsequently,  in  1651,  aristocratic  apparel  was  conditioned 
upon  the  estate  possessed.  Mass.  Col.  Rec,  i.  126,  183,  274 ;  ii.  84  ; 
iii.  243,  244;  Ellis's  Puritan  Age  in  Mass.,  pp.  263-265. 


116         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

Well,  it  was  about  the  time  these  questions  arose 
that  there  arrived  Mr.  Henry  Vane,  the  son  and  heir 
of  Sir  Henry  Vane,  comptroller  of  the  king's  house. 
He  was  an  aristocrat,  of  conspicuous  appearance  and 
affable  manners,  and  soon  became  the  admired  of  a 
circle  who  regarded  these  qualities.  Winthrop  after- 
wards records  the  fact,  which  has  a  deal  of  light  in  it, 
that  when  he  was  elected  governor  "  because  he  was 
son  and  heir  to  a  privy  counsellor  of  England  the 
ships  congratulated  his  election  with  a  volley  of  great 
shot."  And  this  was  quite  in  harmony  with  the  cus- 
tom he  introduced  of  magistrates  appearing  "  more 
solemnly  in  public  with  attendance,  apparel  and  open 
notice  of  their  entrance  into  court."  This  young  man 
won  especially  the  favor  of  many  in  Boston.  Within 
a  month  he  was  admitted  to  church  membership,  with- 
out which  standing  none  could  rise  to  very  dazzling 
heights  of  glory.  He  was  invited  to  and  accepted  one 
of  the  highest  seats  in  the  Puritan  synagogue.  His 
residence  was  with  John  Cotton,  to  whose  house  he 
built  an  addition  for  his  accommodation.  Thus  asso- 
ciated, it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  they  would  be 
divided  in  their  counsels.  Within  three  months  we 
find  this  young  nobleman,  who  had  brought  some 
little  authority  as  to  Connecticut  affairs,  in  such  a 
position  that  he  can  assume  to  give  the  honored  Win- 
throp a  lesson  in  government,  though  under  the  guise 
of  settling  a  difference  between  him  and  Dudley. 
We  venture  the  suspicion  that  the  movement  against 
Winthrop  was  concocted  in  the  study  of  John  Cotton 
upon  a  certain  visit  of  Rev.  Hugh  Peter,  of  Salem, 
who  had  every  reason  to  be  displeased  because  his  own 
troublesome  predecessor,  Eoger  Williams,  had  been 


A   FAST  SERMON  IN  COURT.  117 

allowed  to  escape,  in  which,  it  has  been  thought,  Win- 
throp  may  have  had  a  part.  Williams  afterwards 
wrote  that,  had  he  perished  amid  the  cold  and  snows 
of  that  winter,  his  blood  would  have  been  required  at 
the  hands  of  Cotton.  ^  However  this  may  be,  the 
party  with  which  Mrs.  Ann  Hutchinson,  the  disturber 
of  Israel,  cast  in  her  lot,  was  really  formed  before  she 
came  into  conspicuous  notice.  She  had  been  in  Bos- 
ton about  a  year  when  Vane  arrived,  and  it  is  not  un- 
til a  year  afterward  that  she  is  even  mentioned  in 
Winthrop's  journal.  Though  exception  was  at  first 
taken,  she  was  finally  admitted  to  the  church  to  whose 
teacher  she  had  been  devoted  in  England.  It  must 
be  admitted  that  she  was  an  extraordinary  woman,  — 
of  exceptional  mental  endowments  and  well  informed 
in  religious  matters,  the  common  theme  of  Puritan 
conversation.  She  was  fitted  to  teach.  Her  acquain- 
tance with  pathology  and  her  philanthropic  spirit  gave 
her  access  to  many  homes,  and  made  her  a  popular 
friend.  Yet  she  lacked  in  judgment,  and  expressed 
her  mind  perhaps  too  freely  in  admiration  of  the 
teacher  Cotton  and  depreciation  of  the  pastor  Wilson. 
So  far  as  the  church  was  concerned,  this  was  the  main 
cause  of  the  trouble.  As  she  gradually  established 
herself  in  the  leadership  of  a  cx)mpany  of  women, 
whom  she  endeavored  to  help  in  spiritual  things,  she 
became  a  social  force  in  the  community ;  and  when 
the  controversy  came  on,  these  women,  in  the  phrase  of 
Cotton  Mather,  "hooked  in  their  husbands."  Her 
charge  against  Wilson  was  that  he  preached  a  "  cove- 
nant of  works,"  and  did  not  preach  a  "  covenant  of 
grace,"  as  did  Cotton.  Furthermore,  as  hostility  to 
^  Narragansett  Club  Publications,  i.  315. 


118         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

her  was  manifested  among  the  other  ministers  of  the 
colony,  she  included  them  in  the  same  condemnation, 
and  thus  brought  down  upon  her  head  the  disfavor  of 
a  powerful  body,  each  the  bishop  in  his  own  town. 
So  it  happened  that  the  controversy  arose  in  a  way  to 
array  the  prejudices  of  the  ministers,  the  jealousies  of 
the  surrounding  towns,  Winthrop,  the  representative 
of  the  old  regime,  and  his  tried  friend  Wilson,  against 
a  circle  in  Boston,  professing  some  new  religious  light 
and  superior  holiness,  to  be  sure,  but  controlling  a  social 
influence  through  a  woman's  cleverness,  a  nobleman's 
patronage,  and  the  station  of  a  minister.  All  of  these 
latter  persons  were,  we  judge,  more  to  blame  for  the 
disturbance  than  Rev.  John  Wheelwright,  the  man 
with  whose  name  it  is  associated,  and  who  suffered 
most  by  it. 

Thus  much  it  has  been  necessary  to  record  in  intro- 
ducing the  reader  to  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  the 
circumstances  in  which  the  famous  fast-day  sermon 
w^as  preached.  Wheelwright,  who  was  the  brother-in- 
law  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson  and  thoroughly  sympathized 
with  her  views,  had  been  proposed  for  settlement  over 
the  Boston  church,  October  23,  1636,  but  the  op]3osi- 
tion  had  defeated  the  plan.  The  ministers  had  con- 
vened, and  consulted  with  the  court  in  the  interest  of 
peace,  but  to  no  purpose.  Some  had  blamed  the  new 
opinions,  but  Hugh  Peter  emphatically  charged  the 
trouble  to  Vane,  and  said  the  cause  was  pride  and 
idleness.  So  the  young  man  wanted  to  go  home 
to  England.  At  this  juncture  the  court  appointed 
a  day,  January  19,  1636-7,  for  humiliation  and 
prayer.i     Never  was    one    more    needed.     From    the 

1  Winthrop  has  January  20.     Writing  some  days  after,  he  misdated 


A   FAST  SERMON  IN  COURT.  119 

completeness  of  Winthrop's  statement  of  the  causes, 
we  may  infer  that  some  public  proclamation  was 
made,  and  probably  sent  in  writing  thi-oughout  the 
colony.  "The  occasion  was  the  miserable  estate  of 
the  churches  in  Germany,  the  calamities  upon  our 
native  country,  the  bishops  making  havoc  in  the 
churches,  putting  down  the  faithful  ministers  and 
advancing  popish  ceremonies  and  doctrines;  the 
plague  raging  exceedingly,  and  famine  and  sword 
threatening  them  ;  the  dangers  of  those  at  Connecti- 
cut, and  of  ourselves  also,  bvthe  Indians  ;  and  the 
dissensions  in  our  churches.^^!)  This  last  item  was 
destined  to  swallow  up  the  rest. 

The  reader  is  introduced  on  the  afternoon  of  that 
day  to  the  congregation  assembled  in  the  humble 
meeting-house  at  Boston.  It  was  a  stone  structui^, 
plastered  with  mud  and  thatched  with  straw.  Through 
the  smaU  windows  came  the  dim  light  of  a  winter  day, 
suggestive  of  the  atmosphere  within.  The  seats  were 
rude  benches.  At  one  end  was  the  pulpit,  never 
more  worthy  of  Cotton's  term,  "  the  scaffold,"  and 
there  sat  Wilson,  Cotton,  and  Wheelwright.  Before 
it,  facing  the  audience,  were  the  elders'  seats,  filled 
by  Oliver  and  Leverett,  who  with  the  deacons  were 

hiseDtry.  The  Colonial  Records  give  "the  19th  of  the  11th  month, 
being  the  5th  day  of  the  weeke."  Mr.  Henry  B.  Dawson,  in  his 
reprint  of  the  sermon,  says  the  19th  was  Tuesday,  and  the  fast  was 
"probably  kept  on  Thursday  the  21st,  that  day  being  usually  se- 
lected." This  is  an  error.  The  19th  was  a  Thursday.  The  date 
given  in  the  transcript  {State  Archives:  Hutchinson  Papers,  i.  21)  is 
"  the  xvjth  of  January,"  which  may  have  been  an  error  in  copying,  but 
most  likely  this  was  the  date  he  first  preached  it.  Of  the  original 
manuscript  (Mass.  Hist.  Soc.)  the  first  eight  of  the  forty-two  pages 
are  missing.  The  transcript  says,  "  A  sermon  preached  at  Boston,'* 
etc.  It  was  undoubtedly  preached  on  the  afternoon  of  the  fast  day. 
1  Winthrop's  Hist,  i.  254. 


120         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

of  the  ruling  party.  In  the  seats  of  honor,  raised 
above  the  rest,  were  the  governor  and  deputy.  Vane 
and  Winthrop.  The  edifice  was  crowded  with  an 
attentive  people,  hatted  and  cloaked  in  Puritan  fash- 
ion. They  little  suspected  what  was  in  store  for 
them.  There  they  were,  assembled  particularly  to 
hear  the  things  which  make  for  peace.  All  day  long, 
save  for  a  short  recess  at  noon,  they  had  been  there, 
fasting  after  the  most  rigid  practice.  They  had 
heard  a  sermon  in  the  morning,  and  perhaps  one  al- 
ready in  the  afternoon.  And  there,  up  in  the  pulpit, 
sat  a  man  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  situation, 
but  who  had  slipped  into  his  pocket,  before  he  left 
his  home  at  Mount  Wollaston  to  attend  upon  their 
service,  a  sermon  which  he  knew  would  effectually 
demolish  the  hopes  of  the  day  !  Would  he  be  invited 
to  preach  ?  He  must  have  thought  so,  or  he  would 
not  thus  have  provided  himself  with  his  ammimition. 
But  he  was  a  man  of  convictions  and  courage,  and  he 
did  not  intend  to  recant,  or  even  remodel  his  sermon 
for  the  occasion.  So,  when  the  proper  time  came  and 
he  was  invited  to  "  say  on,"  he  did.  His  production 
is  the  first  fast-day  sermon  the  full  text  of  which  has 
come  down  to  us.  The  text  was  innocent  enough. 
It  was  Matt.  ix.  15 :  "  And  Jesus  said  vnto  them, 
can  the  children  of  the  bride-chamber  mourne  as  long 
as  the  Bridegroome  is  wi*^  them,  but  the  dayes  will 
come,  when  the  Bridegroome  shall  be  taken  from 
them,  &  then  they  shall  fast."  It  is  hardly  possible 
that  remarks  were  interjected,  after  the  usual  custom, 
which  are  not  preserved  in  the  manuscript,  or  it 
would  not  have  been  presented  so  confidently  in 
court.     Yet  surely  there  is  enough  upon  the  surface 


A   FAST  SERMON  IN  COURT,  121 

to  account  for  the  consequences.  The  widely  differ- 
ent views  which  are  now  entertained  of  it  are  not  so 
good  an  interpretation  as  the  judgment  of  the  time, 
however  great  the  excitement  may  have  been.  One 
modern  writer  says  :  "  Those  who  listened  so  testily  to 
the  preacher  must  have  heard  between  the  lines  and 
sentences,  interpolating  from  their  own  suspicions  and 
fancies  what  he  neither  uttered  nor  suggested.  The 
sermon  seems  to  us  earnest,  but  wholly  peaceful, 
kindly,  and  harmless."  i  Cotton  Mather  is  much 
nearer  the  truth  in  his  opinion  when  he  says :  "  He  let 
fall  many  passages  which  amounted  imto  thus  much, 
'  That  the  magistrates  and  ministers  of  the  country- 
walked  in  such  a  way  of  salvation,  and  the  evidence 
thereof,  as  was  a  covenant  of  works,'  which  passages 
were  aculeated  by  resembling  such  as  were  under  that 
covenant  unto  Jews,  and  Herods,  and  Philistines  and 
Antichrists  ;  and  exhorting  such  as  were  under  the 
covenant  of  grace  to  combate  those  as  their  greatest 
enemies."  |^  The  virus  was  not  in  its  heresy,  but  in 
these  reflections  upon  the  opposite  party.  He  cham- 
pioned the  Hutchinsonian  views  of  sanctification,  but 
this  might  have  been  passed  had  he  not  glorified  those 
who  held  them  as  the  "true  behevers."  The  pious 
Wilson  and  the  dignified  Winthrop  could  not  be  ex- 
pected to  enjoy  such  a  statement  as  this :  "  Those  y^ 
are  enymies  of  y®  Lorde,  not  onely  Pagonish  but 
Antichristian,  &  those  y^  nmne  vnder  a  covenant  of 
workes  are  very  strong,  but  be  not  afraide  .  .  .  one 
of  yow  shal  chase  athousand."  As  it  turned  out,  the 
thousand  chased  the  one.     They  must  have  felt  slan- 

^  Ellis's  Puritan  Age  in  Mass.,  p.  822. 
2  Magnolia  J  ii.  511. 


122         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

dered,  too,  by  the  words,  "  Those  vnder  a  couenant  of 
workes,  y®  more  holy  they  are  y®  greater  enymies 
they  are  to  Ch(rist)."  .  .  .  '•  Seest  thou  a  man  wise 
in  his  owne  eonceite  more  hope  there  is  of  a  foole 
then  of  him."  To  that  party  the  preacher  was  fairly 
understood  to  refer  in  his  phrase,  "  those  that  oppose 
y®  waies  of  grace,"  and  he  applied  Christ's  words  to 
them,  "you  are  the  children  of  y®  Deuel."  The 
sermon  abounds  in  language  and  allusions  which, 
under  the  circumstances,  were  doubtless  as  satisfac- 
tory to  the  majority  of  the  congregation  as  they  were 
oifensive  to  the  minority.  We  can  imagine  the  breath- 
less silence  in  which  they  were  received  by  the  Puritan 
company,  and  the  feelings  that  were  kindled  within. 
The  excitement  was  manifest  when  the  audience  was 
dismissed,  and  no  wonder  Winthrop  says  "  the  dif- 
ferences in  the  said  points  of  religion  increased." 

In  the  March  following,  the  General  Court  had  the 
whole  subject  before  it.  Finally  it  took  up  the  case 
of  Wheelwright.  The  charge  against  him  was,  that 
"  he  had  called  such  as  maintain  sanctification  as  an 
evidence  of  justification  antichrists  and  stirred  up  the 
people  against  them  with  much  bitterness  and  vehe- 
mency."  ^  The  preacher  produced  the  sermon,  and 
probably  read  portions  of  it  to  the  court,  the  ministers 
of  the  colony  being  present.  He  stood  by  its  objec- 
tionable references  to  those  who  walked  in  a  covenant 
of  works,  and  the  ministers  agreed  that  they  did  so 
walk.  Thereupon  the  conclusion  was  that  the  preacher 
was  "  guilty  of  sedition,  and  also  of  contempt,  for  that 
the  court  had  appointed  the  fast  as  a  means  of  recon- 
ciliation of  differences  etc,  and  he  purposely  set  himself 

1  Winthrop's  Hist,  i.  256. 


A  FAST  SERMON  IN  COURT.  123 

to  kindle  and  increase  them."  ^  In  the  literal  view 
of  the  case  the  sermon  sustained  the  charge.  If  the 
premises  be  allowed,  and  the  right  of  the  court  to 
deal  thus  with  a  minister  is  conceded,  they  certainly 
proceeded  in  accord  with  the  facts,  though  in  a  most 
tyrannical  fashion  and  to  a  bigoted  conclusion. 

At  this  time  the  excitement  was  high  in  their  poli- 
tics. Something  must  be  done  to  get  rid  of  those  who 
were  troubling  Israel.  Governor  Vane's  time  came 
at  the  spring  election,  which  was  held  at  Cambridge, 
a  place  then  more  accessible  for  the  other  towns  than 
for  Boston.  The  ministers  had  their  part  in  it,  Wil- 
son especially,  who  delivered  a  telling  speech.  Vane 
was  defeated,  and  Winthrop  was  restored  to  power. 

The  next  act  of  the  drama  relates  to  a  public  fast 
which  was  kept  May  25,  1637.^  On  this  account 
the  court  again  put  off  Wheelwright's  sentence  until 
August.  Vane  and  Coddington,  who  on  the  Sabbath 
before  had  refused  to  accept  the  governor's  invitation 
to  sit  in  the  magistrates'  seat  because  of  their  defeat, 
on  tliat  fast  day  went  over  to  Mount  Wollaston  to 
hear  Mr.  Wheelwright  preach,  but  further  incidents 
of  the  day  are  unknown. 

It  must  be  remembered  that,  during  the  early 
months  of  this  year  1637,  the  colony  had  also  been 
engaged  with  the  Pequot  War,  on  account  of  their 
victory  in  wliich  they  had  kept  a  thanksgiving  June 
15,  but  their  dissensions  overshadowed  the  occasion. 
On  the  3d  of  August  Mr.  Henry  Vane  left  Boston  to 
return  to  England.     It  was  the  farewell  of  New  Eng- 

1  Winthrop's  Hist,  i.  257. 

2  As  in  many  other  instances,  the  Colonial  Records  do  not  mention 
this  fast.  Winthrop  does  not  give  the  date,  hut  says  it  was  the  day 
before  the  defeat  of  the  Pequots,  which  was  the  26th. 


124         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

land  to  all  notions  of  setting  up  an  English  nobility. 
He  was  attended  by  four  sergeant  halberdiers  of  Bos- 
ton, who  afterwards  confessed  their  aristocratic  ideas 
by  refusing  thus  to  honor  Winthrop  because  he  was 
not  of  the  nobility,  for  whom  indeed  two  of  his  own 
servants  were  quite  enough  display.  On  the  24th  a 
day  of  humiliation  was  kept  in  all  the  churches,  with 
the  consent  of  the  magistrates,  to  prepare  for  the 
convening  of  the  Cambridge  Synod  upon  the  30th.i 
This  body,  having  the  assistance  of  Hooker  and  Stone 
of  Connecticut,  began  in  the  proper  way  to  effect  a 
reconciliation  between  Cotton  and  the  other  ministers ; 
but  it  accomplished  little  with  Wheehvright,  who  nat- 
urally paid  little  regard  to  the  thanksgiving  October 
12,  which  was  also  kept  in  Plymouth  Colony,  partly 
to  express  congratulations  over  the  result,  and  doubt- 
less also  in  Connecticut.  The  conclusion  of  the  story 
is  fully  told  thus  in  Winthrop's  history :  "  The  gen- 
eral court  being  assembled  in  the  2  of  the  9th  month, 
and  finding,  upon  consultation,  that  two  so  opposite 
parties  could  not  contain  in  the  same  body,  without 
apparent  hazard  of  ruin  to  the  whole,  agreed  to  send 
away  some  of  the  principal.  .  .  .  Then  the  court  sent 
for  Mr.  Wheelwright,  and  he  persisting  to  justify  his 
sermon  and  his  whole  practice  and  opinions,  and  refus- 
ing to  leave  either  the  place  or  his  public  exercisings, 
he  was  disfranchised  and  banished.  .  .  .  The  court 
gave  him  leave  to  go  to  his  house  upon  his  promise 
that,  if  he  were  not  gone  out  of  our  jurisdiction  within 
fourteen  days  he  would  render  himseK  to  one  of  the 
magistrates."  2      He  left  the  colony,  settled   in  New 

1  Winthrop's  Hist,  I  281-283. 

2  Full  details  are  ^ven  in  Winthrop,  i.  291-301,  304, 306,  307,  309- 
811,  313-317,  326,  327. 


A   FAST  SERMON  IN  COURT,  125 

Hampsliire,  and,  amid  various  fortunes,  lived  to  have 
liis  sentence  revoked  and  attain  high  esteem  in  New- 
England. 

Mrs.  Ann  Hutchinson  was  brought  before  the  court 
and  charged  with  '^  reproaching  most  of  the  ministers 
for  not  preaching  a  covenant  of  free  gi'ace,"  "  justify- 
ing Mr.  Wheelwright's  sermon,"  and  making  a  dis- 
turbance generally.^  Her  former  friend  Cotton  did 
not  defend  her  as  he  might  have  done.  She  was  set 
upon  by  the  ministers,  who  bestowed  upon  her  such 
epithets  as  "  the  American  Jezabel,"  and  was  excom- 
municated from  the  Boston  church.  Finally  she  too 
went  forth,  an  exile,  doubtless  with  the  feeling  that 
her  going  was  a  martyrdom ;  and  several  years  after- 
wards was  massacred  by  the  Indians. 

The  sequel  of  this  story  also  relates  to  a  fast  day. 
Months  passed,  and  amid  other  public  interests  the 
excitement  was  subsiding.^  The  winter  of  1638-9 
developed  sickness,  and  for  this  and  "  the  apparent 
decay  of  the  power  of  religion  and  the  general  declin- 
ing of  professors  to  the  world,"  a  public  fast  was  kept 
December  13.  On  that  day  Mr.  Cotton,  says  Win- 
throp,  "  did  confess  and  bewail,  as  the  churches'  so 
his  own  security,  sloth  and  credulity,  whereupon  so 
many  and  dangerous  errors  had  gotten  up  and  spread 

1  Examination  of  Mrs.  Ann  Hutchinson,  Hutchinson's  Hist,  ii.  482- 
520. 

2  The  colony  was  threatened  with  a  governor  from  England,  and, 
April  12, 1638, kept  a  fast"  to  intreate  the  help  of  God  in  the  weighty 
matters  w*^'^  are  in  hand  <fe  to  divert  any  evill  plots  w*^^  may  bee 
intended,  &  to  p'pare  the  way  of  friends  w*^'^  we  hope  may  bee  vpon 
coraeing  to  vs/ '  During  the  summer  many  of  these  arrived  safely,  and 
for  this,  as  well  as  the  seasonable  weather  "  to  ripen  the  harvest,"  a 
thanksgiving  was  observed  October  25.  Mass.  Col.  Rec,  i.  226,  241  j 
Winthrop,  i.  317,  324. 


126         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

in  the  church ;  and  went  over  all  the  particulars,  and 
showed  how  he  came  to  be  deceived,  the  errors  being 
framed  (in  words)  so  near  the  truths  which  he  had 
preached  and  the  falsehood  of  the  maintainers  of  them, 
who  usually  would  deny  to  him  what  they  had  deliv- 
ered to  others."  ^  He  furthermore  took  occasion  to 
commend  the  sentence  of  banishment  passed  upon  his 
former  friends  as  just,  and  withal  endeavored  to  set 
himself  right  with  the  other  ministers  of  the  colony. 
The  part  of  John  Cotton  in  this  controversy  is  not 
one  of  the  brightest  pages  of  his  career.  With  all  the 
light  he  must  have  had,  how  could  he  have  been  de- 
ceived ?  But,  granting  that  he  was,  there  is  not  suffi- 
cient excuse  for  his  course.  He  was  willing  to  profit 
by  the  early  popularity  which  he  derived  from  Mrs. 
Hutchinson's  praise,  and  he  might  at  least  have  asked 
leniency  for  her.  It  has  been  truly  said  that  "  they 
who  from  the  beginning  had  gone  along  with  her  in 
her  errors  were  not  displeased  at  a  good  pretence  for 
getting  rid  of  her  without  condemning  themselves."  ^ 
At  any  rate  the  fast  day  upon  which  his  troubled  con- 
science uttered  its  explanations  did  not  eventuate  in 
the  traditional  blessing.  It  is  an  apt  illustration  of 
the  times  that  we  find  the  fathers  even  looking  for  a 
sign  in  the  heavens.  The  very  night  of  that  fast  day 
a  great  storm  arose,  the  wind  blowing  fiercely  from 
the  northeast,  and  the  snow  falling  in  true  blizzard 
fashion  throughout  the  night  and  the  next  day.  Sev- 
eral lives  were  lost  between  Boston  and  Eoxbury,  and 
others  at  Dorchester.  A  bark  was  wrecked  on  Cape 
Cod,  two  vessels  cast  away  on  their  voyage  to  New 
Haven,  and  great  damage  done  everywhere  by   the 

1  Winthrop's  Hist,  i.  337.  2  Hutchinson's  Hist.,  i.  73. 


A    FAST  SERMON  IN  COURT.  127 

high  tide.  The  ministers,  we  may  be  sure,  were  not 
slow  in  their  inferences.  That,  however,  which  Win- 
throp  records  is  as  follows  :  "  This  happened  the  day 
after  a  general  fast  which  occasioned  some  of  our  min- 
isters to  stir  us  up  to  seek  the  Lord  better,  because  he 
seemed  to  discountenance  the  means  of  reconciliation. 
Whereupon  the  next  general  court,  by  advice  of  the 
elders,  agreed  to  keep  another  day,  and  seek  further 
into  the  causes  of  such  displeasure  etc,  which  accord- 
ingly was  performed."^  From  the  Colonial  Records 
we  learn  that  this  latter  day  was  April  4,  1639,  and 
the  causes  assigned  were,  '*  Novelties,  oppression,  athe- 
isme,  excesse,  supei*fluity,  idleness,  contempt  of  author- 
ity, &  troubles  in  other  parts." 

If  the  responsibility  for  the  first  religious  contro- 
versy of  New  England  belongs  to  one  more  than  others, 
it  will  ever  be  put  upon  Mrs.  Hutchinson ;  but  the 
blame  attaching  to  Mr.  Henry  Vane  was  more,  we  sus- 
pect, than  is  recorded.  He  sought  authority,  which 
was  too  readily  granted  him,  merely  because  of  his 
rank.  He  found  the  people,  especially  of  Boston,  in 
a  way  to  encourage  his  ambitions,  and  he  advanced  his 
interests,  imder  the  favor  of  Cotton,  by  the  aid  of  a 
reUgious  excitement  and  his  own  social  success.  Says 
the  historian  Hutchinson :  "  It  is  highly  probable  that 
if  Mr.  Vane  had  remained  in  England,  had  not  craftily 
made  use  of  the  party  which  maintained  these  peculiar 
opinions  in  religion  to  bring  him  into  civil  power  and 
authority,  and  draw  the  affections  of  the  people  from 
those  who  were  their  leaders  in  the  wilderness,  these,* 
like  many  other  errors,  might  have  prevailed  a  short 
time  without  any  disturbance  to  the  state,  and,  as  the 
1  Winthrop's  Hist.,  i.  346. 


128         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

absurdity  of  them  appeared,  silently  subsided,  and 
posterity  would  not  have  known  that  such  a  woman 
as  Mrs.  Hutchinson  ever  existed."  ^ 

Yet,  as  we  read  the  story  at  this  distance  of  time, 
discovering  between  the  lines  that  which  the  imme- 
diate actors  did  not  see,  there  was  some  good  which 
resulted  from  it.  It  crushed  out  some  of  those  ten- 
dencies which  Thomas  Hooker  probably  saw  in  the 
Bay  Colony,  and  which  were  in  part  the  reason  for 
his  removal  to  Connecticut.  It  was  a  lesson  in  the 
virtue  of  democracy.  It  cured  the  longing  of  the 
colony  to  see  "men  of  quality"  coming  over  from 
England;  and  probably  the  aristocracy  of  slashed 
sleeves,  ruffles,  and  laces  were  made  better  acquainted 
with  the  Puritan  spirit  which  would  rebuke  a  claim  to 
superiority,  whether  advanced  in  social  life  or  in  the 
church  by  a  doctrine  of  sanctification. 

1  Hutchinson's  HisU^  i.  73. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   RIVER   PLANTATIONS. 

1635-1640. 

The  settlement  of  Connecticut  was  attended  with 
calamitous  and  joyous  experiences,  in  the  orderings  of 
Divine  Providence,  similar  to  those  which  had  tried 
the  older  colonies.  We  may  be  sure  that  fast  and 
thanksgiving  days  were  kept  from  the  first ;  but  before 
the  settlement  of  government  these  were  ordered  by 
the  individual  churches,  each  making  its  appointment 
independently  of  the  others.  Unfortunately,  however, 
we  have  no  account  of  these  earliest  days,  and  there- 
fore we  can  only  locate  them  with  probability  by  the 
study  of  their  experiences.     This  we  purpose  to  do. 

One  of  the  first  incidents  in  the  history  of  Wind- 
sor exhibits  an  interesting  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
the  providences  of  God.  A  dispute  arose  between 
the  Plymouth  traders  and  the  Dorchester  emigrants 
who  unceremoniously  squatted  on  their  lands.  The 
latter  claimed  that  "  God  by  his  providence  "  had  ten- 
dered them  the  lands  which  the  former  had  bought  of 
the  Indians.  In  Bradford's  creed  this  seemed  rather 
to  be  "  casting  a  covetous  eye  upon  that  which  is  your 
neighbor's,"  and  he  pointedly  said,  "Look  that  you 
abuse  not  God's  providence."  ^  Perhaps  he  had  the 
best  of  the  doctrine,  but  his  opponents  got  most  of 
the  land.     The  sequel  can  only  be  appreciated  by  fol- 

1  Bradford's  Hist.,  pp.  340,  341. 


130  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

lowing  these  Dorchester  men.  In  the  autunin  of  1635 
they  had  a  suffering  time  of  it.  Some  few  had  been 
on  the  ground,  but  the  rest  had  come  overland,  driv- 
ing their  herds.  The  arrival  was  late  and  the  winter 
was  early.  A  few  huts  were  inadequate,  and  of  food 
they  had  little,  for  the  two  shallops  with  their  pro- 
visions had  not  reached  them.  So  they  waited  in 
hunger  through  those  cheerless  November  days.  It  is 
in  accord  with  their  temper  and  practice  to  suppose 
that  then  they  set  apart  days  for  prayer.  But  the 
panic  of  starvation  was  soon  upon  them.  An  unlucky 
thirteen  started  overland  for  the  Bay,  wliich  twelve 
reached  after  untold  hardships.  The  main  body  filed 
southward  along  the  river  in  dismal  procession,  hoping 
to  meet  the  shallops.  Somewhere  about  Haddam 
they  met  the  ship  Rebecca,  frozen  in  the  ice,  and 
went  aboard,  which  a  timely  rain  released,  so  that 
in  her  they  came,  December  10,  safely  to  Boston.^ 
Again,  it  would  seem  strange  if  they  did  not,  with 
their  friends,  keep  a  thanksgiving.  But  what  of  the 
shallops?  A  northeast  storm  had  arisen  when  they 
were  off  Plymouth,  and  seeking  to  make  the  harbor 
in  the  night  they  were  wrecked,  and  their  cargoes 
scattered  along  the  shore.  Here  comes  the  moral  of 
the  story.  Bradford  gathered  up,  at  great  labor,  what 
of  their  possessions  he  could,  and  probably  he  reports 
the  remarks  heard  on  Plymouth  beach  when  he  says : 
"This  disaster  some  imputed  as  a  correction  from 
God  for  their  intrusion  (to  the  wrong  of  others) 
into  that  place.  But  I  dare  not  be  bold  with  God's 
judgments  in  this  kind."  ^ 

1  Winthrop's  Hist,  I  204,  207-209. 

2  Bradford  (pp.  348,  349)  maizes  this  record  under  1636;  Winthrop 
(i.  201),  under  October  6, 1635. 


THE  RIVER  PLANTATIONS.  131 

The  few  who  endured  the  severity  of  that  winter  in 
the  river  plantations  must  have  hailed  with  joy  the 
opening  spring.  It  brought  their  friends  again,  and 
Wethersfield,  Windsor,  and  Hartford  experienced  a 
busy  season  of  house-building,  and  such  other  employ- 
ments as  attended  new  towns.  By  the  autumn  the 
congregations  were  enjoying  religious  privileges.  It 
can  hardly  be  thought  that  they  did  not  find  occar 
sion  for  thanksgiving  during  that  season.  The  arri- 
val woiUd  have  been  sufficient  cause. 

Another  winter  was  soon  upon  them.  They  were 
dependent,  for  the  most  part,  upon  provisions  brought 
with  them,  as  the  majority  had  come  too  late  for 
cultivating  the  fields.  If  we  liad  a  fit  clironicler  of 
those  times  we  shoiUd  doubtless  wonder  at  the  hardy 
courage  of  those  Connecticut  planters,  and  their  sub- 
sequent history  shows  how  they  must  have  sought 
divine  consolation  from  their  able  ministry  in  frequent 
assemblies. 

The  gi^eatest  of  their  early  distresses  was  the  Pequot 
War.  Its  religious  aspects  alone  fall  within  our  pur- 
pose. No  sooner  was  the  fear  of  Indians  abroad  than 
the  colonists  generally  comprehended  the  fact  that  it 
threatened  the  overthrow  of  their  enterprise.  And 
notwithstanding  all  sentimental  criticism,  this  war  will 
ever  stand,  not  only  as  justifiable,  but  also  as  a  re- 
markable demonstration  of  courage,  a  military  achieve- 
ment, and  a  wonderful  deliverance.  They  religiously 
regarded  God  as  directing  them  in  every  movement. 
At  the  first  alarm  they  must  have  humbled  themselves 
and  committed  their  cause  to  God.  That  memorable 
fast  at  Boston,  January  19,  1636-7,  had  recognized 
the  "  dangers  of  those  at  Connecticut,"  who,  though 


132         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

doubtless  grateful  for  the  sympathy,  were  not  thereby 
reconciled  to  the  ill-timed  expedition  of  Endicott  the 
summer  before,  which  only  precipitated  the  trouble. 
An  early  fast  must  have  been  kept  at  Wethersfield 
after  the  attack  in  April,  when  nine  were  killed  and 
two  young  women  taken  captive. 

A  General  Court  held  at  Hartford,  May  1,  1637, 
determined  upon  an  offensive  warfare.  The  ninety 
brave  men  would  not  have  set  out  for  Saybrook  with- 
out some  religious  recognition  in  the  churches  of  their 
departure.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  a  fast  was  kept 
the  day  before.  Captain  John  Mason  remembered 
afterwards  the  words  of  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker  to  them 
ere  they  embarked,  "  that  the  Pequots  should  be  bread 
for  them,"  ^  and  perhaps  this  was  his  recollection  of  a 
sermon  preached  to  them  from  the  text,  "  Only  rebel 
not  ye  against  the  Lord,  neither  fear  ye  the  people  of 
the  land,  for  they  are  bread  for  us,  their  defence  is 
departed  from  them  and  the  Lord  is  with  us  ;  fear 
them  not "  (Num.  xiv.  9).  They  were  accompanied 
by  Rev.  Samuel  Stone  as  chaplain,  and  their  uncer- 
tainty as  to  the  fidelity  of  Uncas  and  their  Indian 
allies  gave  rise  to  this  incident.  The  authority  for  it 
is  Captain  John  Underbill,  who  says  that,  as  he  went 
in  his  boat  to  meet  the  second  detachment,  he  found 
the  chaplain  in  prayer  among  the  soldiers,  using  these 
words :  "  O  Lord  God,  if  it  be  thy  blessed  will,  vouch- 
safe so  much  favor  to  thy  poor  distressed  servants,  as 
to  manifest  one  pledge  of  thy  love  that  may  confirm 
us  of  the  fidelity  of  these  Indians  toward  us,  that  now 
pretend  friendship  and  service  to  us,  that  our  hearts 

1  Mason's  "  Brief  History  "  in  Mather's  Early  Hist,  etc.,  ed.  1864, 
p.  156. 


THE  RIVER  PLANTATIONS,  133 

may  be  encouraged  the  more  in  this  work  of  thine." 
Whereupon  the  answer  came  aboard  in  the  news  of 
five  Pequots  slain  by  Uncas'  band.^  Mason  may  be 
interpreted  as  confirming  this  when  he  says  :  ''  The 
news  was  welcome  to  them,  and  looked  upon  as  a 
special  providence."  ^  Being  wind-bound  at  Saybrook, 
a  difference  arose  between  Mason  and  his  officers  as 
to  whether  the  attack  should  be  from  the  Pequot 
River  or  the  Narragansett.  The  captain  favored 
the  latter,  for  the  enemy  would  not  expect  them 
from  that  quarter  ;  but  the  matter  was  left  to  the 
chaplain,  who  was  desired  to  "commend  the  case 
to  the  Lord."  He  is  said  to  have  retired  aboard  the 
Pink,  and  there  remained  in  prayer  until  the  next 
morning,  when  he  found  his  opinion  altered  to  agree- 
ment with  the  captain. 3  The  resolute  little  army 
landed  near  Point  Judith,  after  keeping  the  Sabbath 
aboard ;  and,  declining  to  wait  for  the  Massachusetts 
forces  then  at  Providence,  they  pushed  on.  The  cap- 
tain records  it  as  an  evidence  of  God's  leadership  that 
they  were  brought  through  a  "  treacherous  and  per- 
fidious people,"  and,  by  a  way  they  knew  not,  to  the 
Pequot  fort.  The  day  before  the  fight,  it  may  be 
remembered,  was  the  fast  day  observed,  in  part  for 
them,  by  the  Bay.  Upon  it  the  army  had  a  long 
march,  with  a  little  corn  biscuit  and  cheese  to  satisfy 
their  hunger.  The  sun  was  hot  as  ever  it  could  be  on 
a  May  day.  Some  were  overcome,  whose  resuscita- 
tion, by  the  by,  was  not  the  least  wonder  of  the  cam- 
paign, for,  when  the  captain  presented  his  pint  liquor 
bottle,  even  "  when  it  was  empty  the  very  smelling  of 

1  Underhill's  "  Narrative  "  in  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  ColL,  III.  vol.  vi.  p.  16. 

2  Mason's  Brief  Hist.,  p.  122.  »  Ibid,,  pp.  123-125, 


134         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

the  bottle  would  presently  recover  such."  In  the 
bivouac  of  that  night,  amid  its  dangers  and  darkness, 
we  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  chaplain  wrestling  apart  in 
prayer  for  the  victory  ;  and  in  the  morning,  having 
"yielded  themselves  up  to  God  and  entreated  his 
assistance,"  in  the  spirit  of  Joshua's  heroes,  while  the 
man  of  prayer  held  up  his  hand,  they  made  an  on- 
slaught which  crushed  the  Pequots'  power  forever. 

We  have  made  this  digression  because  it  so  well 

illustrates   the  doctrine  of   divine  providences  which 

these  people  held.     To  them,  to  their  children,   and 

^      its  historians,  this  war  was  such  as  those  recorded  in 

the  Jewish  Scriptures,  —  a  holy  war,  for  which  they 

claimed  warrant   from   the    Bible.     Underbill  says: 

"  We  had  sufficient  light  from  the  Word  of  God  for 

our  proceedings."     And  Mason,  in  his  introduction  to 

(   his  history,  professes  to  write  in  order  "  to  preserve 

\a  remarkable  Providence."     Their  deliverances  may 

seem  trivial  to  us  now,  —  the  arrows  received  in  cra^ 

\         vat   knots,  or  warded  off  by  a  bit  of  cheese  in  the 

X       pocket ;  the  wind  that  blew  their  ships  to  their  relief, 

l*^y         and  then  changed  to  waft  them  homeward,  —  but  all 

these  incidents  in  the  olden  time  were  the  alphabet  of 

a  divine  speech  to  which  they  listened  upon  every  fast 

X.    and  thanksgiving  day. 

No  record  survives  of  the  thanksgiving  days  that 
would  certainly  have  been  kept  in  the  three  Connec- 
ticut towns  upon  the  return  of  the  victorious  troops. 
Massachusetts  observed  the  15th  of  June,  and  Con- 
necticut had  far  greater  reason  to  recognize  such  a 
signal  deliverance.  They  were  doubtless  appointed 
by  the  respective  churches,  and  during  the  first  week 
of   June.     Hartford's   lecture   day  was  Wednesday, 


THE  RIVER  PLANTATIONS.  135 

and  that  day  or  Thursday  would  naturally  have  been 
chosen  there,  —  that  is,  the  7th  or  8th  of  June. 
Later,  however,  a  general  day  of  thanksgiving,  for 
the  further  successes  of  the  war,  was  kept  through- 
out New  England.  Trumbull  says :  "  This  happy 
event  gave  joy  to  the  colonies.  A  day  of  public 
thanksgiving  was  appointed,  and  in  all  the  churches 
of  New  England  devout  and  animated  praises  were 
addressed  to  Him  who  giveth  his  people  the  victory."  ^ 
We  do  not  know  by  what  authority  he  makes  this 
statement,  but  he  includes  Connecticut.  As  he  re- 
cords the  fact  after  the  events  of  the  autiunn,  we  may 
conclude  that  he  had  in  mind  a  thanksgiving  some 
months  after  the  Pequot  fight.  Now,  such  a  day  was 
observed  in  Massachusetts  upon  the  12th  of  October, 
and  at  least  by  the  Scituate  church  in  the  Plymouth 
Colony.  The  Massachusetts  Colonial  Records  give 
us  the  following  entry:  "The  12*^  of  the  8^  m^ 
was  ordered  to  bee  kept  a  day  of  publicke  thanks- 
giveing  to  God  for  his  great  nicies  in  subdewing  the 
Pecoits,  bringing  the  soldiers  in  safety,  the  successe 
of  the  conference,  &  good  news  from  Germany." 
Winthrop  makes  a  similar  record,  and  adds  the  fact 
that  in  Boston,  after  the  religious  exercises,  a  feast 
was  given  to  the  "  captains  and  soldiers,  who  had  been 
in  the  late  service."  We  have  therefore  no  doubt 
that  this  was  the  day  to  which  Trumbull  refers  as 
being  general  throughout  New  England.  Nor  are  we 
wholly  in  the  dark  as  to  how  it  happened  to  be  so. 
It  was  in  part  for  the  success  of  the  synod  which 
Hooker  and  Stone  attended  at  Cambridge  in  August, 
and  at  which  a  "  plan  of  union  "  was  proposed.     We 

1  TruTOlmir§  Hist,  of  Conn.,  i.  93. 


136         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

may  fairly  conjecture  that  this  thanksgiving  day  was 
then  and  there  agreed  upon  to  be  kept  in  all  the 
colonies,  as  many  afterwards  were  appointed  by  the 
commissioners.  If  this  reasoning  is  correct  it  cor- 
roborates Trumbull's  assertion,  fixes  the  date  of  the 
first  general  thanksgiving  in  New  England,  and  en- 
ables us  to  locate  the  first  one  known  in  Connecticut 
upon  October  12,  1637,  —  one  year  earlier  than 
authorities  have  heretofore  done. 

We  turn  on  now  to  another  page  of  Connecticut 
history.  A  fast  day  was  observed  at  Windsor,  Fri- 
day, June  15,  1638.  It  is  the  first  definitely  fixed, 
the  recovery  of  which,  and  the  notes  of  the  discourse 
preached  by  Rev.  John  Warham,  are  due  to  the  de- 
ciphering of  Henry  Wolcott,  Jr.'s  shorthand  note- 
book, in  the  archives  of  the  Connecticut  Historical 
Society,  by  the  Hon.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  LL.  D.^ 
Interest  is  added  to  the  occasion  by  the  fact  that  it  was 
only  two  weeks  after  the  preaching  of  the  famous 
sermon  on  the  Constitution  by  Thomas  Hooker.  The 
colonists  had  passed  through  a  grievous  winter,  and 
were  in  the  midst  of  this  discussion.  For  some  ex- 
ceptional reason,  Henry  Wolcott,  Jr.,  of  Windsor,  was 
in  quite  constant  attendance  upon  Hooker's  Wednes- 
day lecture  ;  and  we  may  suppose  political  agitation 
was  preparing  that  inmiortal  declaration  for  the  14th 
of  January  following,  if  the  same  was  not  formally 
debated  in  a  protracted  assembly  or  court.  The  very 
day  after  Hooker's  sermon,  that  is,  June  1, 1638,  about 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  there  was  an  earthquake, 

^  We  are  indebted,  for  the  early  days  in  Connecticut  and  the  ab- 
stracts of  sermons  preached,  to  Dr.  Trumbull's  manuscript  notes  on 
the  Wolcott  Note-book.    See  Conn.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  L  19. 


J 


THE  RIVER  PLANTATIONS.  137 

general  tliroughout  New  England.^  Winthrop  says 
that  the  noise  of  this  earthquake  was  like  "  continued 
thunder  or  the  rattling  of  coaches  in  London ;  "  and 
Johnson  remarks  that  "  the  motion  was  such  that  it 
caused  divers  men  (that  had  never  known  an  earth- 
quake before)  being  at  worke  in  the  fields  to  cast 
downe  their  working-tooles  and  run,  with  gastly  ter- 
rified lookes  to  the  next  company  they  could  meet."  2 
What  use  the  Connecticut  ministers  made  of  such  a 
providence,on  the  Simday  following,  we  do  not  know ; 
but  in  the  Massachusetts  colony  some  thought  it  was 
a  trying  of  the  churches,  though  none  dared  to  suggest 
that  they  deserved  a  shaking  for  their  conduct  in  the 
Antinomian  controversy.  Others  very  considerately 
observed  that,  as  the  motions  came  from  "  the  westerne 
and  uninhabited  parts  of  the  wildernesse  "  and  went 
due  east,  it  was  designed  for  Old  England,  and  there 
would  be  ''  greate  alterations  in  the  kingdomes  of 
Europe," — a  true  enough  prophecy.  Yet,  if  the 
Connecticut  divines  had  adopted  the  same  logic,  they 
might  have  said  that  it  was  designed  for  the  Bay 
Colony,  and  probably  foimd  some  comfort  therein, 
for  there  was  abroad  a  general  indignation  at  their 
attempts  to  prevent  arriving  emigrants  from  coming 
to  the  river  plantations.  To  this  our  story  of  the 
Windsor  fast  day  pertains.     So  far  back  as  1634, 

^  "About  a  fortnight  before,"  says  Wolcott,  "there  was  a  great 
thunder,  and  a  thunderbolt  at  Hartford  went  through  a  house  and 
melted  a  bar,  and  hailstones  as  big  as  a  man's  thumb."  Some  then 
thought  there  was  a  connection  between  storms  and  earthquakes. 
For  further  information  concerning  this  earthquake,  see,  especially, 
Morton's  New  England^s  Memorial,  Hutchinson's  History,  Bradford 
and  Winthrop. 

^  Winthrop's  Hist,^  L  318,  319 ;  Johnson's  Wonder-working  Prom^ 
dence^  etc.,  p.  131. 


138        FAST  AND  THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

—  when  the  fast  of  September  18  concerned  the  re- 
moval,—  an  opposition  had  been  manifested  to  the 
departure,  and  at  this  date  there  was  some  feeling  in 
the  matter,  for  such  as  were  not  dissuaded  from  com- 
ing to  Connecticut  told  what  had  been  said  to  them. 
In  the  well-known  letter  of  Thomas  Hooker  to  Win- 
throp  a  pithy  summary  is  given  of  this  ungenerous 
conduct,  and  this  was  written  only  a  few  months 
after  the  delivery  of  Warham's  sermon.  We  quote 
Hooker's  words  :  "  The  heads  and  hearts  of  passengers 
come  loaded  hither,  and  that  with  grief  and  wonder- 
ment, and  the  conclusion  which  is  aimed  at  from  these 
reproaches  and  practices  is  this,  that  we  are  a  forlorn 
people,  not  worthy  to  be  succored  with  company.  .  .  . 
If  after  much  search  made  for  the  settling  of  people 
and  nothing  suitable  found  to  their  desires  but  to- 
ward Connecticut ;  if  yet  then  they  wiU  needs  go 
from  the  Bay,  go  any  whither,  be  anywhere,  choose 
any  place,  any  patent,  —  Narragansett,  Plymouth,  — 
only  go  not  to  Connecticut."  ^  He  also  charges  that 
incoming  ships  were  boarded  before  they  came  to  an- 
chor by  such  as  spread  evil  reports  of  Connecticut's 
condition,  -^  its  dangers,  hungerings,  d}dng  cattle, 
and  weed-growing  meadows.  With  such  stories  inn- 
keepers were  wont  to  entertain  their  guests,  and  even 
agents  in  the  Exchange  at  London  did  the  like.  Such 
was  the  provocation  ;  and,  as  not  less  than  three  thou- 
sand persons  arrived  at  Boston  during  the  season  of 
1638,  many  of  them  in  the  spring,  we  can  imagine  the 
height  of  feeling  which  was  kindled  by  it. 

It  was  under  these  circumstances  that  the  Windsor 


1  Conn.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,i.  4.  Cf.  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Winthrop, 
ii.  421,  422. 


4 


THE  RIVER  PLANTATIONS.  139 

church  observed  its  fast  of  June  15,  1638,  and  the 
occasion  undoubtedly  had  reference  to  them.  The 
minister,  Rev.  John  Warham,  chose  a  very  suggestive 
text :  "  How  long  shall  this  man  be  a  snare  unto  us  ? 
let  the  men  go,  that  they  may  serve  the  Lord  their 
God :  knowest  thou  not  yet  that  Egypt  is  destroyed  ? 
And  Moses  and  Aaron  were  brought  again  imto  Pha- 
raoh :  and  he  said  unto  them,  Go,  serve  the  Lord  your 
God  :  but  who  are  they  that  shall  go  ?  "  (Ex.  x.  7,  8). 
The  doctrine  set  forth  was,  "  That  godly  men  .  .  . 
are  oftentimes  by  accident  a  very  snare,  and  the  oc- 
casion of  the  greatest  plagues  and  judgments  to  the 
people  they  have  to  do  withal."  There  was  scope 
enough  in  this  for  the  larger  application  of  the  theme 
to  Old  England,  whose  Council  was  endeavoring  to 
obstruct  emigration  to  the  colonies  by  permitting  none 
to  leave  the  country  without  the  royal  license ;  and 
the  great  enemy  of  the  Puritans,  Archbishop  Laud, 
might  weU  have  filled  the  role  of  Pharaoh.  It  was 
true  enough,  also,  that  the  emigrants  had  brought  dis- 
tresses upon  those  with  whom  they  had  "  had  to  do 
withal,"  and,  in  the  opinion  of  some,  had  been  the 
"  occasion  of  the  greatest  plagues  and  judgments  " 
upon  their  enemies.  Perhaps  some  of  the  Windsor 
congregation  entertained  the  aforementioned  theory  as 
to  the  earthquake  which  had  made  off  to  the  eastward. 
But  some  at  least  were  in  a  temper  of  mind  to  make 
an  application  nearer  home,  and  had  we  heard  the  ser- 
mon throughout,  knowing  the  grievance,  we  might  have 
discovered  an  imdertone  of  reflection  upon  the  conduct 
of  the  Bay  Colony,  and  have  thought  the  teaching  very 
evident  that  the  people  of  God  had  a  right  to  go  and 
serve  Him  even  in  the  wilderness  of  Connecticut. 


140         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

The  next  thanksgiving  season  in  the  river  planta- 
tions was  in  October,  1638.  Upon  the  authority  of 
the  Wolcott  Note-book,  Wednesday,  the  3d,  was  kept 
at  Windsor ;  and  the  notes  of  Matthew  Grant  show 
that  Thursday,  the  4th,  was  the  day  at  Hartford, 
Probably  some  day  that  same  week  was  kept  at 
Wethersfield.  An  event  of  importance  had  transpired 
the  21st  of  September, — the  signing  at  Hartford  of 
"  A  Covenant  and  Agreement  made  between  the  Eng- 
lish and  the  Indians."  ^  This  undoubtedly  was  one 
ground  for  the  appointment,  though  the  brighter  pros- 
pect before  the  colony  included  other  particulars,  such 
as  the  arrival  of  emigrants  and  the  prospect  of  a  har- 
vest. John  Warham  on  that  day  clung,  both  morn- 
ing and  afternoon,  to  his  text  of  the  Sunday  before, 
Kom.  V.  1,  from  which  he  was  to  preach  twenty-four 
more  sermons  before  both  he  and  the  text  were  ex- 
hausted, perhaps  to  the  relief  of  his  audience.  ^  The 
text   of   Thomas  Hooker's  sermon  was  appropriate: 

^  Letters  of  Roger  Williams  in  Narragansett  Club  Publications,  vi, 
117  n. ;  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  IV.  vol.  vi.  p.  250. 

^  One  text  was  a  winter's  supply  in  those  days.  In  the  autumn  of 
1639,  Huit  and  Warham  apparently  started  in  a  race  of  homiletic  en- 
durance. Sunday  morning  Huit  would  preach  from  2  Tim.  ii.  19-21, 
and  in  the  afternoon  Warham  would  respond  from  Ps.  xcii.  5-7. 
About  the  same  time  Hooker  '*  struck  a  lead  "  at  his  lecture  in  Acts  ii. 
37.  All  went  well  at  Windsor,  until  the  thanksgiving  of  November 
12  caused  Huit  to  make  a  break,  and  gave  Warham  the  advantage 
with  his  thanksgiving  psalm,  but  he  caught  up  the  next  Sabbath  by 
getting  in  two  sermons  from  the  same  text.  Twice  that  winter  Wol- 
cott went  to  Hartford,  and  there  he  found  Hooker  working  away  on 
Acts  ii.  37  in  a  masterly  fashion.  In  December  and  again  in  Janu- 
ary, Huit  tried  to  entice  his  coUeaglie  from  his  psalm  by  preaching 
on  Jer.  viii.  4,  but  it  was  no  use,  and  by  the  spring  Warham  was  way 
ahead,  and  Huit  gave  it  up.  Yet  the  victor  must  have  been  humbled 
when  Hooker  was  found  still  preaching  on  Acts  ii.  37  way  along  in 
haying  time. 


THE  RIVER  PLANTATIONS.  141 

"  Then  Samuel  took  a  stone,  and  set  it  between 
Mizpeh  and  Shen,  and  called  the  name  of  it  Eben- 
ezer,  saying,  Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  us " 
(1  Sam.  vii.  12).  The  Indians  had  brought  great  ex- 
pense and  distress  upon  the  colony,  and  this  tripartite 
covenant  between  the  English,  Mohegans,  and  Narra- 
gansetts  was  auspicious.  It  might  well  be  commemo- 
rated, as  also  the  other  causes.  But  in  the  sermon  of 
Thomas  Hooker,  a  considerable  portion  of  which  is  in 
print,^  his  homiletic  purpose  led  him  to  illustrate  es- 
pecially from  the  experiences  of  the  previous  winter, 
which  may  already  have  received  recognition  in  a 
thanksgiving.  Certainly  this  day  in  October  was  not 
primarily  for  deliverances  so  far  back.  To  those  ex- 
periences, however,  we  revert.  As  the  crop  of  1637 
had  been  small,  because  there  had  been  -few  ploughs  to 
turn  the  soil  and  many  Indians  to  turn  their  attention, 
the  provision  for  the  winter  had  been  insufficient.  We 
can  imagine  their  hardships,  shut  in  as  they  were  by 
the  deep  snows  of  a  long  and  hard  winter.^  Both 
men  and  cattle  perished.  Therefore,  in  the  early 
spring,  the  court  sent  Captain  John  Mason  and  two 
others  up  the  river  "  to  make  trial  what  Providence 
would  afford  for  their  reUef."  Then  there  was  a  time 
of  anxious  waiting,  ending  in  the  arrival  of  fifty  ca- 
noes, corn-laden,  from   Deerfield.^     Soon  after  came 

^  In  the  Hartford  Evening  Press  of  November  28, 1860,  is  published 
Dr.  Trumbull's  abstract  of  the  sermon,  from  the  notes  of  Matthew 
Grant,  of  Windsor ;  and  extracts  are  printed  in  the  History  of  the  First 
Church  of  Hartford,  pp.  95-97,  and  Thomas  Hooker,  pp.  101,  102,  by 
Rev.  Georore  Leon  Walker,  D.  D. 

-  The  snow  lay  on  the  ground  from  November  4  to  March  23, 
nearly  two  feet  deep,  in  Massachusetts,  and  the  spring  was  very  back- 
ward.    On  the  23d  of  April  there  was  a  snowstonxL 

^  Mason's  Brief  History^  p.  158. 


142         FAST  AND  THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

a  ship  from  the  Bay  with  provisions,  and  their  distress 
was  thus  relieved.  Reflecting  upon  these  experiences 
in  his  sermon,  Hooker  says :  "  We  might  have  perished 
for  want,  but  the  Lord  sent  us,  as  it  were,  drink  out 
of  the  rock  and  meat  from  the  ravens,  —  the  Indians, 
that  they  should  bring  provision  and  leave  it  here ;  it 
was  the  Lord  that  brought  it !  "  In  remembrance  of 
the  ship  he  says :  "  Let  us,  when  we  have  seen  the 
Lord  in  all,  —  the  Lord  in  the  sending  of  the  ship  and 
we  not  aware  of  it,  —  the  Lord  in  bringing  us  safe,  in 
giving  us  provisions,  .  .  .  labour  to  have  a  heart  more 
near  unto  Him."  And,  after  what  has  been  said  of 
the  earlier  fast  day,  it  should  be  noted  that  he  says  of 
the  efforts  made  to  prevent  emigration  to  Connecticut : 
"  If  anything  could  have  hindered,  either  by  truth  or 
falsehood,  to  keep  men  from  coming  to  these  parts 
hitherto,  it  had  been  done ;  but  yet,  notwithstanding, 
men's  minds  informed,  their  consciences  convicted, 
their  hearts  persuaded  to  come  and  to  plant."  Thus 
on  that  day  the  people  of  his  congregation  were  turned 
back  to  review  their  past  deliverances. 

Upon  the  23d  of  January,  1638-9,  there  was  kept 
at  Windsor  "  a  general  day  of  humiliation  for  Eng- 
land and  the  sickness  in  the  Bay."  This  fact  is  found 
in  the  Wolcott  Note-book.  No  mention  is  made  in  the 
Colonial  Records  of  its  appointment  by  the  General 
Court;  but  it  may  have  been  kept  by  the  common 
consent  of  the  churches,  without  any  public  authority, 
and  therefore  termed  "  general."  The  condition  of 
affairs  in  England,  which  afterwards  assumed  such 
prominence,  did  not  occupy  their  exclusive  attention 
that  day.  The  scourge,  which  had  swept  away  the 
natives  by  thousands,  had  made  its  appearance  among 


THE  RIVER  PLANTATIONS.  143 

the  whites  at  Bostou.  Winthrop  says  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts fast  day,  December  13,  1638, —  the  day  of 
Cotton's  confession,  —  that  a  chief  occasion  therefor 
was  "  the  much  sickness  of  pox  and  fevers  spread 
through  the  country  (yet  it  was  to  the  east  and  south 
also)."^  He  did  not  say  ''to  the  west,"  which  con- 
firms the  inference  that  the  sickness  did  not  prevail  in 
Connecticut.  Upon  that  day  Warham  discoursed  with 
appropriateness,  therefore,  upon  the  staying  of  the 
plague  by  Moses  (Num.  xvi.  44—50),  putting  a  sug- 
gestive emphasis  upon  the  murmuring  of  the  Israel- 
ites. In  none  of  his  sermons  preserved  in  the  Wolcott 
Note-book  does  he  so  clearly  exhibit  his  belief  in  the 
judgments  visited  by  God's  providences.^ 

With  the  opening  spring  of  1638-9,  the  church  at 
Windsor  kept  a  thanksgiving.     The  day  was  March 

^  Winthrop's  Hist.,  i.  :3;^7. 

'^  As  an  illustration  of  Warham's  method,  the  plan  of  this  sermon,  so 
far  as  deciphered,  is  g^iven  from  the  notes  of  Dr.  TnimbuU :  — 

Doctrine  I.  That  the  sin  of  a  people  is  the  [cause]  and  [occasion] 
of  wrath  against  that  people. 

Doctrine  II.  That  the  murmuring  against  providence  in  the  way 
of  God's  judgments,  or  against  God's  deputies  in  the  way  of  their 
calling,  is  a  [provocation]  of  deep  wrath  against  a  people. 

Reason.  Because  murmuring  against  providence  is  attacking  the 
ways  of  God  as  if  they  were  not  equitable. 

Doctrine  III.  That  the  presence  of  God's  people  amongst  wicked 
men  is  the  best  means  to  hinder  and  [avert]  their  speedy  destruction. 

Reasons.  1.  Because  they  will  by  prayer  and  using  means  with 
God  [seek  his  mercy]. 

2.  Because  of  the  great  good-will  God  bears  unto  his  people  he 
will  not  only  do  good  unto  them  but  unto  others  for  their  sake. 

Uses.  1.  To  teach  us  to  see  the  admirable  good-will  God  bears 
nnto  the  elect. 

2.  Then  let  no  wicked  men  [lay]  it  to  their  [charge]  that  the  .  .  . 

3.  To  see  the  madness  of  wicked  men ;  they  are  weary  of  God's 
people. 

4.  To  teach  us  to  honor  the  godly  and  [seek]  to  [bring]  them 
amongst  us. 


144         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

6,  and  it  miglit  have  been  for  the  preservation  of 
the  winter.  Warham's  text  was  the  ninety-second 
Psahn.  On  the  day  before  this,  however,  according 
to  Matthew  Grant,  "the  gi^eat  flood  began."  The 
present  inhabitants  of  that  quiet  town  can  imagine 
what  this  meant,  for  the  water  rose  higher  than  it  had 
within  the  memory  of  the  Indians  then  living.  The 
houses  of  many  were  upon  the  low  land.  Their  stacks 
of  hay  and  cattle-sheds  dotted  the  landscape.  Thanks- 
giving services  could  scarcely  have  been  over  ere  they 
hasted  forth,  some  from  their  houses  to  the  higher 
lands,  and  others  to  the  rescue  of  cattle  and  fodder. 
A  southeast  storm  arose,  with  much  rain  and  wind, 
and  blew  the  waters  in  upon  them.  Trees,  fences,  and 
hay  were  swept  away.  It  was  not  until  the  last  week 
of  March  that  the  waters  subsided  sufficiently  to  allow 
them  to  estimate  the  damage.  Then  once  more  this 
pious  people  gathered  themselves  together  in  their  rude 
place  of  worship  upon  a  day  of  humiliation,  April  5  ; 
and  the  reverend  minister,  finding  his  text  in  Rom.  i. 
18-21,  warned  them  "  that  God  bears  wrath  and  re- 
veals wrath  against  all  manner  of  ungodliness  and 
unrighteousness  of  man."  Sermons  are  said  to  be 
found  in  running  brooks  :  such  sermons  are  found  in 
Connecticut  floods,  and  we  must  admire  the  men  who 
could  bear  to  have  the  destruction  wrought  laid  to 
their  charge. 

Omitting  now  from  special  mention  eight  fasts  and 
four  thanksgivings  kept  during  the  next  two  years 
at  Windsor,  as  shown  in  the  Calendar  ^  and  recovered 

1  Several  were  fasts  for  England,  notably  May  24,  1639,  July  29, 
1640,  and  January  14,  1640-41.  Their  earnestness  in  behalf  of  their 
brethren  in  England  was  very  great.  Upon  May  24,  1639,  Warham 
preached  from  Esther  viii.  3-6. 


THE  RIVER  PLANTATIONS.  145 

» 

through  the  Wolcott  Note-book,  we  turn  to  the  first 
thanksgiving  noticed  in  the  Colonial  Records  as  ap- 
pointed by  the  General  Court,  namely,  September  18, 
1639.^  We  conclude  that  before  this  the  churches  of 
the  three  towns  had  appointed  their  days,  as  illus- 
trated at  Windsor,  and  as  the  earlier  custom  was  both 
at  Plymouth  and  the  Bay.  For  many  years  they 
jealously  retained  this  right.  The  frequency  of  such 
occasions  could  not  have  been  provided  for  by  the 
court,  and  it  was  not  until  the  year  1655  that  this 
authority  was  delegated  by  the  court  to  the  magis- 
trates. If  any  significance  attaches  to  the  unique 
wording  when  September  18  was  appointed,  perhaps 
there  was  some  discussion  at  the  time  as  to  the  pro- 
priety of  such  action  by  the  court.  The  record  is, 
"  It  was  coTicluded  that  there  be  a  publique  day  of 
thanksgiving  in  these  plantacons  vppon  the  18th  of  the 
next  month."  The  italics  are  ours.  Did  they  hesi- 
tate to  use  the  words  "  it  is  ordered  "  ?  Certainly  not 
thereafter.  This  at  least  we  know,  that  it  was  only 
by  degrees  and  after  years  that  the  civil  authorities 
came  into  exclusive  possession  of  this  delegated  right 
of  the  churches.  No  reason  is  given  in  the  records 
for  this  thanksgiving.  We  conjecture,  however,  that 
it  had  a  relation  to  the  harvest.  They  were  antici- 
pating it,  and  that  same  court  sent  a  company  to 
gather  the  com  which  the  disobedient  Pequots  had 
planted.^  The  Indian  corn  was  then  nearly  ready  to  be 
gathered.      They  had  hitherto  had  sorry  experiences, 

^  Conn.  Col.  Rec.^  i.  33.  Windsor  anticipated  the  occasion  by  a 
church  thanksgiving,  September  3.  Perhaps  this  was  on  account  of 
the  arrival  of  Rev.  Ephraim  Huit. 

2  This  was  the  cause  for  the  fast  at  Windsor  September  10:  "for 
the  soldiers  gone  forth  against  the  Pequots  "  (Conn.  Col.  Rec.^  i.  32, 33). 


146         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

and  the  prospect  of  this  year  had  been  bad  on  account 
of  the  drought.  Winthrop  says  that  it  prevailed  "  all 
over  the  country  both  east  and  west,  there  being  little 
or  no  rain  from  the  26th  of  the  2d  month  to  the  10th 
of  the  4th,  so  as  the  corn  generally  began  to  wither 
and  great  fear  there  was  it  would  all  be  lost."  At 
the  Bay  they  fasted  June  13,  as  also  in  the  Plymouth 
Colony,  and  "  the  very  day  after  the  fast  was  appointed 
there  fell  a  good  shower."  The  bottom  lands  of 
Connecticut,  fertilized  and  soaked  by  the  flood,  now 
brought  to  a  better  cultivation,  profited  by  the  warmth 
and  yielded  abundantly.  To  increase  their  joy,  there 
came  from  Massachusetts  cargoes  of  mackerel  caught 
off  the  coast  that  year  in  great  quantity,  and  a  re- 
freshing change  in  the  diet  of  the  colony.  This  was 
the  bounty  for  which  they  had  struggled  through 
great  want  since  their  arrival.  But  we  are  made  con- 
fident that  this  was  the  cause  by  the  sermon  preached 
by  Rev.  Ephraim  Huit,  of  Windsor,  on  that  day.  It 
was  from  the  text,  ''  Also  that  day  they  offered  great 
sacrifices  and  rejoiced ;  for  God  had  made  them  re- 
joice with  great  joy,  the  wives  also  and  the  children 
rejoiced,  so  that  the  joy  of  Jerusalem  was  heard  even 
afar  off"  (Neh.  xii.  43).  It  was  a  theme  appro- 
priate to  such  an  occasion.  Like  the  Jews  in  their 
Feast  of  Tabernacles,  they  seem  to  have  been  exliorted 
to  make  a  feast  of  rejoicing.  It  was  the  first  public 
thanksgiving  in  Connecticut  that  had  a  special  refer- 
ence to  the  harvest.  Ill  fortime  came  to  the  colony 
in  years  thereafter,  but  they  had  been  brought  safely 
through  the  perils  of  a  new  plantation,  —  through  war, 
earthquake,  flood,  and  drought,  —  and  they  had  come 
into  full  possession  of  their  Canaan. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

TEARS  FOR  OLD  ENGLAND. 
1640-1660. 

The  23cl  of  July,  1640,  was  a  fast  day  of  more 
than  ordinary  interest  in  the  Massachusetts  Colony. 
The  General  Court,  when  in  session  in  May,  could 
not  have  anticipated  the  more  serious  aspect  of  affairs 
in  England,  and  this  day  was  doubtless  appointed  by 
the  governor  and  council,  as  the  custom  was  under 
such  circumstances.  On  the  5th  of  May,  only  eight 
days  before  the  court  convened,  the  king  had  dissolved 
the  famous  *'  Short  Parliament,"  having  failed  to 
secure  his  subsidies  for  carrying  on  a  war  against  the 
Scots ;  and  only  two  days  before,  an  attack  had  been 
made  by  the  mob  on  Lambeth  Palace,  where  Arch- 
bishop Laud,  the  persecutor  of  New  England,  carried 
on  his  unix)pular  schemes.  The  result  of  this  failure 
of  Parliament  to  come  to  the  terms  of  King  Charles 
was  already  anticipated  in  that  body,  and  dismal  fore- 
bodings must  have  pervaded  the  exercises  of  a  "  day 
of  public  fasting  and  humiliation  "  which  they  kept 
only  three  days  before  the  dissolution,  somewhat  in- 
creased, perhaps,  by  the  warning  they  that  day  received 
from  the  king.  The  news  of  this  breach  and  of  impend- 
ing war  traversed  the  Atlantic  in  emigrant  ships,  and 
a  profound  impression  was  made  in  New  England. 
Though  the  condition   of  their  native  coimtry  had, 


148         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

before  this,  entered  into  their  fastings,  from  this  time 
it  was  an  item  in  their  supplications  for  many  years. 
And,  far  separated  by  the  sea  from  the  excitement, 
they  had  the  cahnness  to  consider  all  possible  issues, 
and  resolve,  in  a  wisdom  which  was  their  salvation,  to 
maintain  a  loyalty,  not  to  king  or  Parliament  as  fac- 
tions, but  to  the  established  government  whatever  it 
was.*  In  all  their  legislation  they  assumed  a  position 
of  neutrality,  which  is  the  more  remarkable  since  their 
political  practices  and  religious  prejudices  were  decid- 
edly favorable  to  Parliament  then,  and  afterwards  to 
the  Commonwealth.  Still,  no  listener  in  their  reli- 
gious assemblies  could  have  been  in  the  dark  as  to  the 
popular  opinion,  when  fast-day  sermons  were  preached, 
or  as  the  minister  uttered  his  thoughts  in  extempore 
prayer  upon  the  Sabbath.  Those  who  were  enduring 
hardships  in  the  wilderness  for  the  sake  of  religious 
liberty  would  not  be  likely  to  favor  a  movement  in 
which  the  bishops  were  so  united. 

The  news  which  had  called  forth  the  summer  fast 
day  of  1640  added  great  solemnity  to  its  exercises. 
In  Boston  the  services  were  universally  attended  by  a 
deeply  interested  people.  The  officers  of  the  ships 
then  in  port  also  came  ashore  for  the  purpose,  —  all 
except  one,  and  thereby  hangs  a  tale.  The  captain 
of  the  Mary  Rose,  —  whose  name  is  hidden  in  one  of 
Winthrop's  blanks,  —  not  admiring  the  ordinances  of 
religion  as  practiced  in  Boston,  remained  aboard,  and 
with  his  company  had  a  service  after  the  Church  of 
England  model.  Had  he  known  what  supernatural 
spirits  hovered  around  for  the  execution  of  judgment 
on  the  contemners  of  the  New  England  churches,  he 
would  not  have  dared  thus  to  provoke  them.     For  he 


TEARS  FOR   OLD  ENGLAND.  149 

had  scarcely  made  his  boast  at  the  character  of  his  ser- 
vice to  a  visitor,  four  days  after  the  fast,  when  one  of 
these  spirits,  we  may  suppose,  —  since  no  man  knew 
how  it  came  about,  —  set  fire  to  the  ship's  magazine 
and  blew  it  into  shivers.  The  historian  does  not  con- 
ceal his  opinion  that  this  was  a  "  judgment  of  God 
upon  these  scomers  of  his  ordinances;  "  and  that  was 
then,  no  doubt,  the  general  conclusion.^  Our  English 
captain  would  have  done  better  had  he  attended  the 
fast-day  service  on  shore. 

The  item  of  greatest  interest,  however,  in  what  we 
know  of  that  day's  services  was  the  preaching  of 
a  sermon  at  Taunton  by  the  pastor,  Rev.  William 
Hooke,  the  friend  and  subsequently  the  chaplain  of 
Oliver  Cromwell,  and  the  brother-in-law  of  Edward 
Whalley,  the  regicide.^  This  sermon,  which  bears 
the  striking  title,  ''New  England's  Teares  for  Old 
England's  Feares,"  was  printed  in  England  in  1641, 
and  there  were  three  editions  that  year,  now  known 
among  the  rarities  to  every  bibliophilist.^  '  As  the 
manuscript  was  "  sent  over  to  a  worthy  member  of  the 
honorable  House  of  Commons,"  the  sympathies  of  the 
author  may  be  inferred.  But  there  is  no  spirit  of 
treason  in  his  words.  They  are  verily  "  Tears  for 
Old  England,"  which  must  have  moved  his  auditors 
to  the  same  as  they  saw  his  tragic  picture  of  war, 
which  he  thought  might  even  then  have  spilled  the 
blood  of  their  brothers  and  fathers.  The  text  was : 
"  So  they  sate  down  with  him  upon  the  ground  seven 

1  Winthrop's  Hisl.,  ii.  13, 14;  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  IV.  vol.  vi.  pp. 
141,  142. 

2  Leonard  Bacon's  Historical    Discourses;    Emery's    Ministry  of 
Taunton. 

•  See  Bibliography,  No.  2. 


150         FAST  AND  THANKSGIVING  BAYS. 

dayes  and  seven  nights,  and  none  spake  a  word  unto 
him,  for  they  saw  that  his  grief e  was  very  great  "  (Job 
ii.  13).  The  latest  news  had  evidently  been  the  threat- 
ened war  with  the  Scots,  and  that  had  been  the  main 
cause  for  the  day.  We  quote  two  of  the  preacher's 
most  significant  passages  in  evidence :  "  Let  us  there- 
fore feare  the  worst  at  this  present  in  behalfe  of  our 
deare  Countrey-men  (considering  also  what  ill  tydings 
we  have  heard  thence)  that  nothing,  as  wee  doubt,  but 
a  miracle  of  divine  power  and  mercy  can  preserve  them 
from  the  miseries  of  the  devouring  sword."  "  And 
not  to  looke  upon  the  occasions  given  on  the  one  side 
or  the  other,  betweene  the  two  Sister  nations  :  (Sister 
Nations  ?  ah^  the  word  woundeth,)  let  us  looke  this 
day  simply  on  the  event,  a  sad  event  in  all  likelihood, 
the  dividing  of  a  King  from  his  Subjects,  and  him 
from  them,  their  mutuall  taking  up  of  Armes  in  oppo- 
sition and  defence."  That,  however,  which  constitutes 
the  charm  of  this  sermon  is  its  tender  plea  for  friend- 
ship toward  England  in  her  calamities.  Loyalty  and 
patriotism  resound  in  his  words :  "  There  is  no  land 
that  claimes  our  name  but  England.  .  .  .  There  is  no 
Potentate  breathing  that  wee  call  our  dread  Sov- 
ereigne  but  King  Charles."  If  any  were  in  ill  temper 
toward  the  land  which  had  thrust  them  out,  they  re- 
ceived a  forcible  rebuke  in  the  preacher's  words  "  O 
cruell  and  unnaturall !  "  And  such  sentiments  were 
expressive  of  the  best  feeling  of  the  New  England 
fathers  throughout  the  struggle  which  followed.  There 
were  tears  for  Old  England  everywhere ;  but  in  say- 
ing this  we  cannot  deny  that,  as  the  Presbyterian 
influence  waned  and  the  spirit  of  political  and  eccle- 
siastical independency  prevailed,  there  were   smiles 


TEARS  FOR   OLD  ENGLAND.  151 

mingled  with  those  tears.  As  English  colonies  theyf 
were  neutral.  As  Congregationalists  they  were  favor-/ 
able  to  independency.  As  Englishmen  they  bemoaned! 
the  divisions  in  their  native  land,  and  as  Christians 
they  fasted  and  prayed  for  the  triumph  of  God's  king- 
dom in  the  midst  of  the  turmoil.  When  the  conflict 
advanced  to  that  stage  where  they  saw  visions  of  a 
theocratic  state  arising  Phoenix-like  out  of  the  ashes 
of  monarchy,  they  uttered  their  hopes  perhaps  too 
freely.  But  in  this  they  were  only  loyal  to  a  politi- 
cal conception  which  they  themselves  were  hoping  to 
realize  in  New  England.  Nor  is  it  strange  that  their 
brethren  in  England  were  all  the  while  deriving  from 
them  a  moral  support.  Letters  went  to  and  fro. 
Some  of  their  foremost  men  returned  to  take  an  active 
part  in  the  agitation.  Hugh  Peter,  once  of  Salem, 
became  the  most  ubiquitous  preacher  in  the  realm. 
This  very  Taunton  minister  probably  left  his  flock 
at  New  Haven,  hoping  to  find  in  England  greater  use- 
fulness in  the  cause.  And  by  many  hidden  channels 
the  sentiments  of  New  England  issued  in  fountains 
of  good  cheer  among  their  distressed  brethren.  ^  The 
fathers  were  esteemed  by  them  as  heroes,  so  much  so 
that  Hooke  had  reason  to  remark  in  his  sermon,  "  How 
doe  they  (I  meane  all  this  while,  multitudes  of  well 
affected  persons  there)  talke  of  New  England  with 
delight !  How  much  nearer  Heaven  doe  some  of  their 
charities  accoimt  this  Land,  then  any  other  place  they 
heare  of  in  the  world  ?  Such  is  their  good  opinion  of 
us !  .  .  .  And  when  sometimes  a  New-England  man 
returnes  thither,  how  is  hee  lookt  upon,  lookt  after, 

1  The  Historical  Relation  of  New  England  to  the  English  Common- 
wealthy  John  Wingate  Thornton. 


162         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DA  YS. 

received,  entertained,  the  ground  hee  walks  upon  be- 
loved for  his  sake  and  the  house  held  the  better  where 
hee  is  ?  "  On  the  whole,  seeing  there  was  such  a  re- 
lationship, it  is  surprising  that  they  did  not  go  too 
far  in  aiding  their  brethren. 

But  we  anticipate.  This  sermon  may  suffice  to 
show  the  character  of  the  preaching  everywhere,  for  it 
is  but  one  of  many  which  were  delivered.  An  impend- 
ing war  with  the  Scots  was  reason  for  an  alarm  in  all 
the  colonies.  Fasts  were  multiplied.  One  was  kept 
August  6  by  the  Barnstable  church  "in  behalf e  of 
England,  and  the  sadd  differences  betwixt  it  and  Scot- 
land." Possibly  this  was  the  date  of  a  public  fast 
in  the  Plymouth  Colony,  where  the  magistrates  made 
such  appointments.  The  Wolcott  Note-book  indicates 
that  July  29  and  September  2  were  fasts  for  Eng- 
land in  the  Windsor  church,  and  probably  the  other 
churches  kept  the  like. 

A  year  passed  before  another  wave  of  excitement 
reached  New  England.  The  reader  is  familiar  with 
the  early  doings  of  the  "  Long  Parliament,"  one  of 
whose  first  acts  was  to  insure  its  longevity.  The  Earl 
of  Strafford  was  beheaded  May  12,  1641,  passing  to 
Tower  Hill  by  the  room  where  Archbishop  Laud  was 
imprisoned.  Measures  for  a  reform  in  religion  fol- 
lowed. A  new  form  of  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  was 
proposed.  Early  in  July,  by  order  of  the  Commons, 
papistical  pictures,  crosses,  and  statues,  were  removed 
from  the  churches.  Bills  were  passed  for  abolishing 
the  Star  Chamber  court  and  the  High  Commission, 
which  the  Puritans  had  no  reason  to  cherish.  So 
by  the  prospect  of  disbanding  the  two  armies,  peace 
seemed  to  be  at  hand.     It  was  the  news  of  all  this 


TEARS  FOR  OLD  ENGLAND.  153 

which  reached  New  England  in  the  latter  part  of 
August,  and  prompted  the  thanksgiving  of  September 
2,  1641,  which,  either  by  intent  or  coincidence,  was 
kept  in  both  the  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth  colo- 
nies.^ In  the  phrase  of  Winthrop  it  was  for  "the 
good  success  of  the  parliament  in  England."  But  the 
Barnstable  Church  Records,  at  greater  length,  inform 
us  that  it  was  "  especially  for  good  Tydeings  fro  old 
England,  of  amost  happie  beginning  of  a  gracious  Re- 
formation both  of  Religion  and  State,  the  Lord  in  the 
tyme  of  Reformation  discovering  &  also  preventing 
su[n]dry  Treasons,  one  amongst  others  was  this  a  dia- 
bolicall  intendment  to  sett  y*  cittye  of  London  on  lire 
att  six  sundry  places  haveing  an  armie  prepared  uppon 
it  to  massacre  whome  they  thought  good."  ^  Such  then 
was  the  report.  The  treason  mentioned  was  the  so- 
eaUed  "  Army  Plot,"  by  which  the  rescue  of  the  Earl 
of  Straflford  was  intended.  Doubtless  the  exaggerated 
account  sufficed  to  augment  the  interest  in  the  day, 
though  we  find  no  hint  of  rejoicing  at  the  death  of  the 
earl  himself,  whom  they  had  no  special  reason  to  dislike. 
The  year  1642  was  opened  with  a  general  fast 
April  14.  Winthrop  says  it  was  "  for  our  native 
coimtiy  and  Ireland."  Of  this  day  we  have  some- 
what more  to  record.  There  is  another  sermon  by 
Rev.  WiUiam  Hooke,  of  greater  rarity  even  than  the 
preceding,  entitled  "New-England's  Sence  of  Old- 
England  and  Irelands  Sorrowes,"  which  was  printed 
in  London  in  1645.  It  seems  to  have  escaped  notice 
hitherto  that  this  sermon,  without  date  on  its  title- 

1  August  27  was  kept  in  England  as  a  thanksgiving  for  peace  be- 
tween England  and  Scotland. 

2  New  Eng.  Beg.,  x.  39. 


164         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

page,  was  probably  preached  on  this  fast  day,  instead 
of  in  1645,  to  which  it  has  been  assigned.^  The  title 
only  specifies  that  it  was  delivered  on  a  fast  "  in  the 
behalfe  of  Old-England  and  Irelands  Sad  condition." 
This  day  answers  that  description,  as  Winthrop's 
words  show ;  and  no  other  fast  day  later  does.  But 
our  identification  rests  upon  the  critical  study  of  the 
sermon  itself.  Whoever  will  note  the  events  which 
followed  the  "  Bishops  War  "  will  find  distinct  refer- 
ences to  them  in  the  sermon  as  late  occurrences,  evi- 
dently moving  for  this  particular  appointment ;  and 
the  preacher  could  not  have  written  as  he  did  after 
the  setting  up  of  the  king's  standard  August  22, 
1642.  The  sermon  was  against  the  prelates  but 
lately  cast  out  as  unsavory  salt,  —  the  "  evill  counsel- 
lors "  of  the  king,  upon  which  the  author  exclaims  : 
"  Happie  is  that  State,  when  both  the  Counsellors  are 
faithful  to  give  onely  good  advice,  and  the  King  wise 
to  discerne  good  advice  from  evill."  This  was  pre- 
cisely the  Puritan  interpretation  of  the  king's  mear 
sures  at  the  time.  But  we  note  some  decisive  particu- 
lars. (1)  The  preacher  justifies  the  Scots  in  uniting 
in  the  Covenant  "  in  their  late  defence  against  their 
Tyranny."  This  clearly  refers  to  the  "  Bishops  War." 
(2)  The  prelates  hoped  the  brotherly  union  of  Eng- 
land and  Scotland  "should  have  engaged  them  in 
blood."  The  armies  were  but  lately  disbanded.  (3) 
The  abuse  of  the  people's  privileges  "  for  many  yeares 
past  ...  is  clearly  represented  to  the  view  of  the 

^  See  Bibliography,  No.  3.  In  Emery's  Ministry  of  Taunton,  i.  73  n., 
the  departure  of  William  Hooke  for  New  HaTen  seems  to  rest  upon  the 
date  of  this  sermon,  as  though  delivered  in  1645.  If  this  is  all  the 
evidence,  Hooke  may  have  been  at  New  Haven  several  years  earlier. 


TEARS  FOR  OLD  ENGLAND.  155 

whole  world  in  the  late  Remonstrance."  This  passed 
the  House  of  Commons  November  22,  1641,  and  was 
voted  printed  December  15  following.  (4)  The  prel- 
ates are  "  not  fit  to  occupy  any  roome  in  Church 
or  Commonwealth."  The  Commons  had  passed  a  bill 
for  taking  away  their  votes  October  23,  1641.  (5) 
There  are  vivid  references  to  the  Irish  massacre  of 
October,  1641,  as  if  to  recent  news  :  "  Oh  those  incar- 
nate Irish  Devils !  let  them  be  often  in  our  sight." 

But  not  to  multiply  evidences  it  would  seem  that  the 
fishing  fleet,  or  some  early  ship,  had  brougjit  advices 
from  England  of  these  late  events,  and  hence  the  day 
and  these  sentiments  expressed  in  this  sermon.  The 
civil  war  was  not  then  anticipated.  Both  of  Hooke's 
sermons  were  sent  to  a  worthy  member  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  we  venture  the  opinion  that  the  person 
was  no  other  than  Oliver  Cromwell,  the  kinsman  of 
William  Hooke's  wife,  who  had  them  printed,  the 
latter  not  until  1645,  if  we  know  it  in  its  first  edition. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice,  in  connection  with  this 
second  sermon,  a  further  and  curious  development  of 
the  thought  that  New  England  sustained  a  religious 
part  in  this  conflict.  This  was  a  common  conception 
of  the  time.  The  author  of  the  ''  Wonder-working 
Providence  of  Zion's  Savior "  scarcely  overdid  it  in 
his  extravagant  language:  "The  Forlorne  hopes  of  / 
Antichrist's  Army  were  the  proud  Prelates  of  Eng- 
land ;  the  Forlorne  of  Christ's  Armies  were  these  N.  E. 
people  .  .  .  which  encountring  each  other  for  some 
space  of  time,  ours  being  overpowered  with  multitude, 
were  forced  to  retreat  to  a  place  of  grater  safety,  where 
they  waited  for  a  fresh  opportunity  to  ingage  with  the 
main  battell  of  Antichrist."     It  was  thought  that  this 


156         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

was  an  engagement  of  spiritual  forces  upon  some 
higher  plane.  An  importance  was  attached  to  their 
fast  days  other  than  as  mere  sympathetic  gatherings. 
So  the  Taunton  preacher  declares  that  the  colonists 
had  been  dispatched  as  "  bands  of  souldiers  lying  in 
ambush  here  imder  the  f earn  and  brushet  of  the  wil- 
derness ...  to  come  upon  the  backs  of  Gods  ene- 
mies with  deadly  fastings  and  prayer,  murtherers 
that  will  kill  point  blanke  from  one  end  of  the  world 
to  the  other."  In  this  respect  they  did  considerable 
warring  for  years,  and  doubtless  on  this  occasion  they 
of  this  congregation  responded  to  the  exhortation,  and 
gave  their  enemies  a  "broadside"  by  fasting,  sack- 
cloth, and  ashes. 

Two  other  public  fasts  were  appointed  in  1642  by 
the  Massachusetts  Colony,  both  by  the  court.  They 
were  July  21  and  September  22.  In  reference  to 
the  latter,  Winthrop  specifies  the  ill  news  received  of 
"  the  breach  between  the  King  and  Parliament."  But 
in  the  February  following,  when  the  fishing  fleet 
brought  news  of  the  civil  war,  the  frequency  of  such 
days  for  the  same  cause  was  objected  to  by  some  of 
the  magistrates.  The  ministers  were  earnestly  for 
them.  So  the  matter  was  settled  by  a  return  to  the 
early  custom,  and  the  churches  were  "  left  to  their  lib- 
erty" to  appoint  such  days,  and  as  many  as  they 
chose.^  There  was  indeed  danger  that  the  prevailing 
sympathy  with  the  Parliament  would  thus  be  quick- 
ened to  excesses.  Neutrality  was  determined  upon. 
And  so  it  came  about  that,  though  two  public  fasts 
were  ordered  by  the  court  for  their  native  coimtry  in 
1643,  the   churches   kept   many   others.     It  greatly 

'  1  Winthrop's  Hist,,  ii.*112. 


TEARS  FOR  OLD  ENGLAND.  /157 

strengthened  the  practice  of  local  days  for  public 
causes.  Many  such  were  kept  everywhere.  In  New 
Haven  they  had  a  system  of  monthly  fasts,  which  was 
adopted  in  the  Connecticut  Colony,  beginning  January 
10,  1643-4.1  This  answered  its  purpose  of  shielding 
the  authorities  from  issuing  frequent  proclamations, 
and  at  the  same  time  satisfied  the  popular  demand. 

The  king  of  course  had  his  sympathizers.  In  Vir- 
ginia, where  the  Church  of  England  held  sway,  it  was 
to  be  expected.  The  Good  Friday  of  1644  was  a  fast 
there  for  "  the  good  successes  of  the  king,"  but  the 
terrible  massacre  by  the  Indians  anticipated  it.  Indi- 
viduals in  New  England  questioned  openly  "  the  law- 
fulness of  the  Parliament's  proceedings."  ^  Discussions 
arose,  and  in  1644  the  May  court  of  Massachusetts 
declared  that  whoever  thus  disturbed  the  peace  should 
be  counted  as  an  offender.  This,  however,  did  not 
extend  to  shipmasters,  etc.,  who  were  frequently  in  port, 
some  of  whom  were  for  the  king  and  others  for  Par- 
liament. Wherefore  grave  difficulties  arose  on  several 
occasions  between  these  ships,  involving  the  sympa- 
thies of  the  people,^  in  the  settlement  of  which  it  was 
noted  that  the  colonists  had  "  openly  declared  their 
affection  for  the  Parliament's  cause  by  prayers  & 
fastings,"  —  all  true  enough.  Perhaps  it  was  well 
that  their  attention  was  diverted  by  the  vagaries  of  the 
Gortonists,  the  drought  and  sickness  of  1644,  and  the 
Indian  troubles  of  1645,  which  shared  with  England 
their  fast-day  exercises. 

1  Conn.  Col.  Bee,  i.  99;  TrumbuU's  Hist,  of  Conn.,  i.  141. 

2  See  the  case  of  Captain  Jenyson  of  Watertown,  Winthrop's 
Hist.,!!.  215,216. 

8  Ibid.,  u.  222-225,  228,  229,  238-240. 


\ 


158         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

On  the  21st  of  March,  1645-6,  there  appeared  be- 
fore the  House  of  Commons  the  familiar  figure  of 
Hugh  Peter,  newly  come  from  Fairfax's  army.  He 
brought  news  of  victories,  in  which  the  Parliament's 
forces  had  lately  had  good  experience.  On  that 
account  they  had  kept  at  least  six  thanksgivings 
within  a  short  time,  on  one  of  which  they  had  been 
"  highly  feasted  "  by  the  city  of  London  in  Grocers' 
Hall.  Truly  New  England  might  keep  one,  especially 
as  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  so  far  as  we  have  data, 
had  not  observed  any  since  the  one  mentioned  in  1641. 
It  was  this  news  at  least  which  caused  the  appoint- 
ment of  June  11,  1646.  Plymouth  and  Connecticut 
had  not  been  so  sparing. 

About  this  time,  as  the  reader  is  aware,  another 
turn  of  affairs  in  England  brought  on  the  struggle 
between  Presbyterians  and  Independents  for  ecclesias- 
tical supremacy,  ending  in  the  setting  up  of  the  Com- 
monwealth. In  this  movement  the  sympathies  of 
the  colonists  were  decidedly  with  the  latter.  Out  of 
this  condition  arose  for  one  thing  the  "  Remonstrance 
and  Petition  of  Robert  Child  and  others,"  with  sub- 
sequent disturbances  concerning  it.^  A  petition  for 
religious  toleration  was  ahead  of  the  times,  and  this 
was  particularly  obnoxious  because  it  linked  its  for- 
tunes with  Presbyterian  ism.  So,  when  December  24, 
1646,  was  set  in  the  Bay  Colony  as  a  fast,  it  was  conven- 
ient to  mention  this  faction  as  those  "  y*  seeke  to  und''- 
mine  y®  liberties  of  God's  people."  Alas  for  those  who 
would  cast  a  slight  upon  the  day,  and  tempt  the  divine 

^  Hutchinson's  Original  Papers,  pp.  188-218 ;  Mass.  Col.  Bee.,  ii. 
162,  175,  196,  199;  iii.  90,94,  113, 114,  219,  256;  Winthrop's  Hist.,  ii 
319-321,  340-369,  372,  373,  391,  392. 


TEARS  FOR  OLD  ENGLAND.  159 

displeasure,  which  was  committed  to  the  perpetual  de- 
fense of  New  England  fast  days !  Two  of  their  num- 
ber set  out  with  a  raft  for  Boston  the  day  before, 
knowing  they  must  desecrate  the  day,  and  the  winds 
and  waves  arose  in  their  might  and  scattered  it. 
Such,  however,  of  this  party  as  went  to  present  their 
petition  before  Parliament  fared  better,  notwithstand- 
ing John  Cotton's  prediction  that  it  would  prove  a 
Jonah  to  the  ship,  in  reference  to  which  they  gave 
this  title  to  their  story,  "  New  Englands  Jonas  cast  up 
at  London." 

The  public  fasts  throughout  this  period  of  agitation 
were  fewer  than  might  be  expected,  and  thanksgivings 
were  rare.  We  note  that  the  chui'ches,  however,  main- 
tained a  constant  interest  in  events.  They  anticipated 
the  rise  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  though  they  would 
not  rejoice  over  the  execution  of  the  king,  they  had 
found  that  Cromwell  was  a  friend  to  New  England. 
He  was  waging  a  war  against  Antichrist,  and  they 
could  but  support  him.  John  Eliot's  book  on  "  The 
Christian  Commonwealth "  was  addressed  "  To  the 
chosen  and  Holy  and  Faithful  who  manage  the  wars 
of  the  Lord  against  Antichrist  in  Great  Britian."  ^ 
"  Babylon  is  fallen,"  they  cried.  "  Oh  1  what  an 
opportunity  hath  the  Parliament  now  to  bring  in 
Christ  to  rule  England,"  said  the  grave  Eliot ;  and 
Cotton  wrote  Cromwell,  "  I  am  fully  satisfyed  that  you 
have  all  the  while  fought  the  Lord's  battells."  Of 
course  then  they  gave  thanks  for  "  exceeding  mercys 
towards  Old  England  in  the  prosperous  good  success 

1  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  HI.  vol.  ix.  pp.  127  ff. ;  Mass.  Col  jRec, 
iv.  pt.  2.  pp.  5, 6.  The  book  was  repudiated  and  condemned  upon  the 
Restoration. 


160         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

of  the  armie  there  under  the  conduct  of  Coronall 
Crumwall,"  ^  —  what  else  could  they  be  expected  to 
do  ?  And  it  was  not  amiss  that  they  thus  won  the 
Protector's  favor.  When  it  was  suggested  that  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  take  out  a  new  patent, 
they  could  support  their  plea  of  loyalty,  as  they  did,  by 
pointing  to  their  "  fastings  and  prayers  for  their  good 
sucesse  and  thanksgivings  after  the  same  was  attained." 
Such  as  had  kept  the  multitude  of  those  days  in  Eng- 
land must  have  appreciated  the  argument.  But  as 
in  the  succeeding  years  their  vision  of  "  The  Chris- 
tian Commonwealth  "  began  to  fade  away,  though  the 
ministers  still  held  out  such  hopes  as  they  could,^ 
the  wise  men  became  apprehensive  of  a  reaction,  and 
made  ready  for  it.  When  the  order  was  received  in 
Boston  to  proclaun  Richard  Cromwell  Lord  Protector, 
they  did  not  comply.  The  churches  were  allowed  to 
keep  their  own  fast  February  22,  1659-60,  without 
public  order.  They  had  no  dislike  toward  the  coming 
king,  they  only  feared  a  further  persecution  of  non- 
conformity. Their  proclamation  for  a  fast  June  21, 
1660,  contains  a  confession  of  their  fears  as  to  the 
"  clouds  hovering  over  them,  threatening  the  utter 
frustration  of  those  hopeful  beginnings,  wherewith  of 
late  years  the  Lord  was  pleased  to  favor  them." 

It  was  on  the  whole  very  remarkable  during  this 
period,  —  with  such  decided  opinions  and  prejudices, 

1  New  Eng.  Beg.,  x.  39. 

2  A  manuscript  sermon  in  possession  of  the  Mass.  Hist.  Soc,  claim- 
ing to  have  been  by  the  hand  of  John  Eliot,  and  which  was  first  preached 
in  1648,  has  evidently  an  addition  of  later  date  when  it  was  preached 
on  a  fast  at  Roxbury.  In  it  he  says,  "  What  though  the  Parliament 
for  the  present  be  slighted,  malignants  grow  extream  insolent .  .  .  shall 
we  therefore  cast  away  our  hope  &  give  all  for  gone  ?  No,  rather 
let  our  hearts  be  quickened  to  prayer, " 


TEARS  FOR  OLD  ENGLAND,  161 

with  a  ministry  unanimously  favoring  tlie  Puritan 
cause,  and  with  such  fast-day  occasions  tempting 
them,  —  that  the  New  England  people  did  not  go  so 
far  as  to  endanger  their  rights  and  privileges.  It 
would  not  have  been  so  had  all  their  sermons  been 
printed  and  circulated  in  England  and  their  extempore 
prayers  been  reported.  When  finally  the  restoration 
came,  no  address  more  loyal  was  received  than  that 
of  Massachusetts,  agreed  on  by  the  General  Court  of 
December  19, 1660,  and  sped  on  its  way  by  the  united 
fastings  and  prayers  of  New  England.  The  story 
ends  with  the  thanksgiving  celebrated  July  10,  1661, 
for  "  answer  to  prayers  upon  their  [our]  late  addresse 
or  petition  made  unto  y®  King,  his  graciouse  accept- 
ance &  favourable  answer."  So  those  troublesome 
days  passed,  and  they  quieted  their  souls  in  peace. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

DUTCH   CUSTOMS    IN   NEW   NETHERLAND. 

1643-1664. 

The  descendants  of  the  Burgomasters  and  Sehe- 
pens  of  New  Amsterdam  have  the  hereditary  right 
to  hold  fast  and  thanksgiving  days  in  honor.  Fast 
days,  ordered  by  the  civil  authorities  on  occasion, 
were  observed  by  their  ancestors,  and  that  while  the 
colony  was  still  under  the  government  of  the  Dutch, 
as  also  afterwards  for  many  years.  Though  not  so 
frequent  as  in  New  England,  they  occurred  almost 
every  year,  and  were  kept  in  course  during  certain 
critical  periods.  As  to  causes,  they  do  not  differ 
materially  from  those  of  their  English  neighbors, 
and  yet  they  do  not  exhibit  that  abnormal  view  of 
God's  providences  so  prominent  in  New  England 
Puritanism.  They  were  civil  rather  than  ecclesiasti- 
cal days,  being  the  continuance  of  a  custom  prevailing 
in  HoUand,  where  these  subsisted  in  connection  with 
the  holy  days  of  the  reformed  churches.  The  same 
may  be  recorded  of  the  Dutch  thanksgiving  days,  for 
which  they  were  not  at  all  indebted  to  New  England 
but  to  their  fatherland.  These  retained  in  many 
instances  that  peculiar  double  name,  by  which  their 
language  had  christened  them  "fast-prayer  and 
thank  days."     Yet  they  did  not  develop,  like  those 


CUSTOMS  IN  NEW  NETHERLAND.         163 

of  New  England,  into  autumnal  thanksgiving  days, 
perhaps  partly  because  the  Dutch  colony  was  more 
occupied  with  trade  than  agriculture,  but  principally 
because  the  people  had  other  seasons  in  which  to  cel- 
ebrate the  bounties  of  the  table  and  make  merry  in 
the  home.  The  market-place  furnished  them  that 
opportunity  which  the  Puritans  found  in  the  church 
porch.  Christmas  (Kerstijd)  and  New  Year  (Nieuw- 
jaar)  were  their  great  days  for  festivity,  the  celebra- 
tion continuing  for  three  weeks  together,  during  which 
courts  did  not  sit  and  public  offices  were  closed. 
Young  and  old  entered  into  the  common  sports, — 
bowling,  dancing,  ball-playing,  and  the  like,  —  while 
the  tap-houses  were  crowded  with  jolly  burghers 
whose  merriment  it  was  sometimes  necessary  to  re- 
strain. In  early  years  they  celebrated  May  Day  with 
great  spirit,  setting  up  the  May-pole  amid  general 
rejoicings  and  not  a  little  rioting.  Besides  these 
they  kept  the  Passover  season  (Paaschtijd)  and 
Whitsuntide  (Pinkster),  which,  like  Christmas,  were 
high  festivals  in  their  churches.  In  fact  we  find 
in  New  Netherland  precisely  the  same  days  and  cus- 
toms so  generally  regarded  in  the  fatherland  ;  and 
as  to  their  fast  and  thanksgiving  days,  they  were 
so  nearly  in  harmony  with  New  England  as  to  exer- 
cise a  great  influence  in  the  development  when  these 
came  to  be  national,  which  is  our  reason  for  this  digres- 
sion. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  whether  any  fast 
or  thanksgiving  days  were  observed  at  New  Amster- 
dam while  it  was  still  a  mere  trading  post,  before  the 
Pilgrims  landed  at  Plymouth.  If  it  could  be  shown 
that  those  early  voyagers  and  traders  set  such  days, 


164         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

they  might  lay  claim  to  the  honor  of  keeping  the  first 
thanksgiving,  though  the  harvest  festival  must  ever 
be  conceded  to  be  New  England  born.  But  we  meet 
with  no  hint  of  such  days  during  those  early  years, 
and  probably  there  were  none.  The  government  was 
not  sufficiently  matured.  They  were  without  minis- 
ter and  church.  However,  it  is  equally  probable 
that,  under  directors  Minuit  and  Van  Twiller,  who 
administered  the  government  from  1626  to  1637, 
such  days  were  kept,  though  the  loss  of  their  minutes 
makes  it  impossible  to  prove  the  fact  and  recover  the 
dates.  Religious  services  were  conducted  on  Sundays 
by  the  schoolmaster,  or  Consoler  of  the  Sick  (Zieken- 
trooster),  who  was  customarily  sent  out  by  the  West 
India  Company  to  instruct  the  young,  comfort  the 
sick,  and  conduct  worship.  Two  of  these  came  in 
1626.^  The  first  minister.  Rev.  Jonas  Michaelius, 
came  in  1628,  when  the  people  were  gathered  in  a 
church,  assembling  from  week  to  week  in  the  upper 
story  of  their  horse-mill  at  the  call  of  the  Spanish 
bells  captured  at  Porto  Rico,  —  a  sanctuary  fully  as 
romantic  as  the  Pilgrim  fort  on  the  hill.  If  the 
records  kept  in  Director  Van  Twiller's  time  should 
ever  turn  up,  it  would  not  be  surprising  if  they 
should  reveal  fast  and  thanksgiving  days,  observed  in 
the  wooden  church  in  Pearl  Street,  which  in  1633 
supplanted  the  horse-mill,  and  where  Dominie  Bogar- 
dus  might  well  have  preached  some  vigorous  sermons 
against  the  Connecticut  River  colonists. 

In    1638  William    Kieft   became  the    director   of 
New  Netherland,  and  the  records  of  his  troubled  ad- 

^  Their  names  were  Sebastian  Jansen  Krol  and  Jan  Huyck,  who 
came  over  with  Director  Peter  Minuit. 


CUSTOMS  IN  NEW  NETHERLAND.         165 

ministration  are  extant.  The  first  public  fast  day 
known  to  have  been  kept  was  March  4,  1643,  N.  S.^ 
They  were  impelled  to  it  by  troubles  with  the  Indians, 
and  the  story  is  briefly  as  follows :  Early  that  year 
a  drunken  Indian,  who  had  been  provoked  by  the 
settlers  of  Hackinsack,  killed  a  Dutchman,  whereupon 
a  hostile  sentiment  was  kindled  at  Manhattan.  The 
atonement  of  the  savages  was  refused,  and  shortly 
some  imwise  counselors  urged  the  director  to  attack 
them,  who  were  at  the  time  encamped  across  the  river 
westward.  It  was  a  Sunday  night,  while  Kieft  was 
at  a  Shrovetide  feast,  at  which  Dominie  Bogardus  was 
present,  that  a  petition  for  vengeance  was  presented 
to  him,  which  might  have  been  more  readily  granted 
on  such  a  convivial  occasion,  though  quite  in  accord 
with  his  inclination. 2  Three  nights  afterwards,  the 
order  was  executed,  and  men,  women,  and  children,  to 
the  number  of  eighty,  were  cruelly  massacred.  The 
next  day  the  Indians  began  to  retaliate,  and  before 
another  week  had  passed,  the  Dutch  boweries  round 
about  had  been  laid  waste,  to  which  Roger  Williams, 
who  was  there  on  his  way  to  England,  was  a  witness. 
Then  there  was  time  to  repent  and  humble  them- 
selves before  God.  The  following  order  was  pub- 
lished, perhaps  in  their  Sabbath  assembly,  March  1, 
only  a  week  after  it  had  been  triumphantly  asserted 
that  the  Lord  had  fully  delivered  the  Indians  into 
their  hands.  It  is  the  first  fast-day  proclamation  of 
New  York  preserved  to  us  :  — 

^  The  New  Style  of  reckoning  time  was  adopted  in  Holland  in  1582, 
and  New  Netherland  followed  the  example  of  the  fatherland.  Dates 
are  therefore  given  as  New  Style  during  the  Dutch  period. 

2  The  petition  and  answer  are  found  in  Boc.  Rel.  to  Col.  Hist,  oj 
N.  r.,  i.  198, 194. 


166  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

**  Whereas  we  are  suffering  at  present  great  injury  from  these 
heathens,  and  many  of  the  inhabitants  are  not  certain  of  their 
lives  and  property,  which  doubtless  has  befallen  us  on  account 
of  our  manifold  sins,  It  is  therefore  resolved  by  the  Council  here 
that  a  General  Fast  and  day  of  Prayer  shall  be  observed  on  next 
Wednesday,  being  the  fourth  of  March,  for  which  every  one  can 
prepare,  to  the  end  that  we,  with  hearty  sorrow  and  earnest 
prayer  may  move  God  to  mercy,  and  that  He  will  not  suffer  His 
holy  name  to  be  prophaned  by  these  heathens  on  account  of  our 
sins."i 

We  have  no  details  of  the  services  of  that  day, 
but  we  may  conjecture  that  Dominie  Bogardus,  who 
is  said  to  have  warned  Kieft  against  his  rashness, 
made  a  profound  impression  upon  the  assembly,  who 
were  thoroughly  indignant  against  the  director  ;  and 
the  occasion  was  not  less  moving  by  the  presence  of 
many  who  had  fled  to  the  fort  from  their  devastated 
homes.  If  Kieft  was  himself  there,  he  did  not  long 
continue  to  favor  the  church  with  his  presence,  and 
the  minister's  outspoken  opinions  may  in  part  have 
given  reason  for  it.^ 

Though  the  confession  of  sin  was  humble  enough, 
it  did  not  avail  with  the  savages,  who  kept  up  a  run- 
ning warfare  for  some  time.  Captain  John  Underbill, 
of  ignominious  memory  at  Boston,  but  famous  in 
Indian  warfare,  was  in  conunand  of  the  Dutch  sol- 
diers when,  in  the  following  spring,  before  the  snows 
melted  an  assault  was  determined  against  the  Con- 
necticut Indians  in  the  neighborhood  of  Stamford. 
On  a  moonlight  night  they  surrounded  the  Indian 
village  and  massacred  the  natives.     It  was  upon  their 

1  MS.  Council  Minutes,  iv.  1.  163  ;  Doc.  Eel.  to  Col  Hist,  of  N.  F., 
xiv.  44.  It  is  printed  as  a  part  of  the  proclamation  of  peace, 
March  25. 

2  Broadhead's  Hist  of  N.  Y.,  i.  417,  418,  760  n.  O. 


CUSTOMS  IN  NEW  NETHERLAND.         167 

return  to  New  Amsterdam,  from  this  battle  on  Strick- 
land's Plain,  that  the  first  public  thanksgiving  of 
record  was  proclaimed,  though  only  the  bare  know- 
ledge of  the  fact  survives.^  However,  another  thanks- 
giving followed,  the  next  year,  when  peace  was  con- 
cluded. On  the  30th  of  August,  1645,  N.  S.,  the 
Indian  chiefs  gathered  outside  Fort  Amsterdam  and 
signed  a  treaty,  wherefore,  the  day  following,  an 
order  was  issued,  which  we  give  in  fuU,  as  the  first 
thanksgiving  proclamation  we  have  met  with  in  the 
history  of  New  York  :  — 

"Whereas  it  hath  pleased  Almighty  God  in  his  unbounded 
clemency  and  mercy,  in  addition  to  many  previous  blessings,  to 
suffer  us  to  reach  a  long  wished  for  peace  with  the  Indians. 
Therefore,  it  is  deemed  necessary  to  proclaim  the  fact  to  all 
those  of  New  Netherland,  to  the  end  that  in  all  places  within  the 
aforesaid  country  where  Dutch  and  English  churches  are  estab- 
lished, God  Almighty  may  be  specially  thanked,  praised,  and 
blessed  on  next  Wednesday  forenoon,  being  the  6th  of  Septem- 
ber, the  text  to  be  appropriate  and  the  Sermon  to  be  applicable 
thereto.  Your  Reverence  will  please  announce  this  matter  to 
the  Congregation  next  Sunday  so  that  they  may  have  notice. 
On  which  we  rely."  ^ 

Several  interesting  items  appear  in  this  proclama- 
tion. The  day  of  the  week  was  Wednesday,  as  in  the 
former  instance,  and  that  was  the  custom  throughout 
the  Dutch  period.  When  they  ordered  a  succession 
of  monthly  fasts,  as  in  1648,  the  day  was  the  first 
Wednesday  of  every  month.  The  proclamation  usu- 
ally designated  the  services  to  be  held,  in  the  forenoon 
in  this  case,  but  in  some  other  proclamations  both  f  ore- 

IjDoc.  Rd.  to  Col  Hist.  ofN.  F.,  i.  186-188  ;   Broadhead's  Hist,  L 
391 ;  O'Callaghan's  Hist,  i.  302. 
2  3fS.  Council  Minutes,  ir.  1.  233. 


168        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

noon  and  afternoon  services  are  specified.^  Notice 
was  given  from  the  pulpit  upon  a  previous  Sabbath, 
as  the  custom  was  in  New  England,  and  probably  the 
order  was  read,  though  all  proclamations  at  New  Am- 
sterdam were  published  as  issued,  from  the  City  Hall 
after  the  ringing  of  a  bell.  Except  in  the  worship, 
which  was  after  the  order  of  the  Reformed  churches, 
the  service  was  much  like  that  among  the  English, 
a  sermon  suited  to  the  day  being  expected  from  the 
dominie.  Here,  as  in  other  instances,  he  was  enjoined 
to  choose  an  appropriate  text.  In  some  proclamations 
it  was  commanded  that  all  attend  church,  and  amuse- 
ments were  prohibited,  though  generally  only  during 
the  hours  of  service,  as  on  the  Sabbath.^  For  the 
same  reason  and  during  the  same  time  all  employ- 
ments were  interdicted.  It  was  the  Dutch  custom  in 
the  fatherland  to  fast  only  a  part  of  the  day,,  and  feast 
toward  evening,  and  the  same  rule  was  followed  at 
New  Amsterdam.  On  days  of  "  fasting  prayer  and 
thanksgiving,"  presently  to  be  noted,  it  was  especially 
true  that  the  time  after  the  second  service,  or  the  af- 

^  An  ordinance  at  New  Amsterdam,  April  29,  1648,  for  the  better 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  declared  that  "  from  this  time  forth,  in  the 
afternoon  as  well  as  in  the  forenoon  there  shall  be  preaching  from 
God's  word"  (MS.  Records  of  New  Amsterdam,  p.  18).  Fast  and 
thanksgiving  days  would  have  followed  this  example. 

'^  In  the  New  Amsterdam  Manuscript  Records  there  are  many  or- 
ders relating  to  the  sacred  hours  of  the  Sabbath.  One  of  Peter  Stuy- 
vesant's,  May  31,  1647,  was,  "  On  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  commonly 
called  Sunday,  before  two  of  the  clock  in  the  afternoon,  in  case  there 
is  no  preaching,  or  otherwise  before  four  of  the  clock  in  the  after- 
noon, they  shall  not  be  permitted  to  set  nor  draw  nor  bring  out  for 
any  person  or  persons  any  wines,  beers  etc."  The  same  was  forbidden 
on  Sunday,  or  any  other  day,  "  after  tho  ringing  of  the  bell  in  the 
evening  which  shall  take  place  about  nine  of  the  clock."  This  related 
to  innkeepers. 


CUSTOMS  IN  NEW  NETHERLAND.        169 

temoon  if  only  one  was  held,  was  devoted  to  the  out- 
ward manifestation  of  joy,  not  only  by  games  and 
feasting,  but  by  military  display  and  the  firing  of 
cannon.  For  example,  in  a  proclamation  for  a  thanks- 
giving August  12,  1654,  on  account  of  peace  between 
England  and  the  Netherlands,  the  people  were  "  to 
appear,  on  that  day,  in  the  fore  and  afternoon  at  the 
place  where  the  word  of  God  is  preached,"  and  "  after 
the  public  worship  shall  be  performed  to  indulge  in  all 
moderate  festivities  and  rejoicings  as  the  event  recom- 
mends and  their  situation  shall  permit."  ^  This  cus- 
tom gave  a  less  solemn  character  to  these  days  than 
they  possessed  in  New  England ;  and  we  may  sup- 
pose that  it  was  partly  this  manner  of  keeping  their 
days,  by  both  fasting  and  feasting,  by  public  worship 
and  social  rejoicings,  that  gave  rise  to  the  name  "  public 
fasting  prayer  and  thanksgiving  day,"  which  we  have 
noted  in  use  in  Holland  and  which  was  transferred  to 
New  Netherland.2  In  respect,  however,  to  the  recital 
of  their  sins,  the  catalogue  of  calamities  at  home  and 
abroad,  and  the  interpretation  of  Divine  Providence, 
some  of  their  proclamations  equal  those  of  the  Puritans. 
The  order  for  the  series  of  fasts  beginning  May  6, 1648, 
recites  the  "sad  and  doleful  tidings  from  Europe  and 
the  Northern  and  Southern  parts  of  America,  severe 
inundations  and  floods,  fevers  whereby  thousands  are 
swept  away  and  scarce  any  to  bury  the  dead,  hurricanes, 
shipwrecks  and  famine."  It  condemns  "  aU  iniquity 
all  false  measures  and  wicked  practices,  all  blasphemy 
and  licentiousness,  drunkenness,  rioting,  swearing,  ly- 

1  MS.  Council  Minutes^  v.  312;  Translations  from  the  Dutch^yu.  2*10^ 
279;  MS.  Records  of  New  Amsterdam^  trans.,  i.  506. 

2  See  chapter  iv. 


170         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

ing,  cheating,  profanation  of  God's  most  Holy  name 
and  Sabbath."  It  declares  that  "  nothing  else  can  be 
concluded  and  inferred  than  that  the  Holy  One  of 
Israel  the  Almighty  God,  being  justly  provoked  to 
anger  and  wrath,  threatens  us  for  our  imrighteous 
deeds  with  a  just  reward,  —  a  reward  from  the  trea- 
sure of  wrath  and  righteous  vengence."  ^ 

The  earliest  order  we  have  seen  for  a  "  prayer  and 
thanksgiving  day"  is  that  designating  February  1, 
1649,  N.  S.  It  is  as  follows  :  "  The  Assembly  has  re- 
solved and  decreed  to  proclaim  that  February  1st  next 
coming  be  a  day  of  prayer  for  the  purpose  of  thanking 
and  praising  God  the  Lord  for  the  determined  and 
acquired  peace  now  agreed  upon  between  the  King  of 
Spain  and  our  dear  fatherland  ;  also  likewise  to  pray  to 
Almighty  God  that  he  may  preserve  the  glory  and 
welfare  of  the  fatherland  and  the  prosperity  of  its  in- 
habitants. Cor.  Van  Tienhoven  Sec."  '^  Upon  another 
occasion,  March  7,  1657,  N.  S.,  when  they  commemo- 
rated, among  other  things,  a  harvest  of  self-sown  grain 
the  previous  season,  the  fields  being  deserted  for  fear 
of  Indians,  the  expression  is  "  general  day  of  thanks- 
giving and  prayers."  ^  In  these  cases  fasting  is  not 
specifically  mentioned.  However,  in  1655,  when  Au- 
gust 25  was  kept  on  account  of  the  threatened  war  with 
the  Swedes  of  the  Delaware  River,  the  day  is  called  a 
general  day  of  "  fasting,  prayer  and  thanksgiving."  ^ 

1  MS.  Council  Minutes,  iv.  1.  377.  2  n^^j^^  p.  425. 

^  Ibid.,  viii.  458  ;  Translations  from  tlie  Dutch,  xv.  69-71. 

*  MS.  Council  Minutes,  vi.  75 ;  Trans-,  from  the  Dutch,  xi.  30-82 ; 
MS.  Records  of  New  Amsterdam,  ii.  175-178.  See  Affairs  and  Men 
of  New  Amsterdam,  Paulding,  pp.  151,  152,  where  the  proclamation 
is  in  print,  but  the  rendering  "  universal  fast  and  thanksgiving  "  day 
is  not  exact. 


CUSTOMS  IN  NEW  NETHERLAND.        171 

It  IS  presumed  that  what  moved  Peter  Stuyvesant  to 
enjoin  thanksgivings  upon  what  would  have  been  in 
New  England  a  fast  day,  was  the  "  manifold  blessings 
and  benefits  of  God ''  manifested  in  their  preparations 
for  the  war.  The  two  elements  were  intentionally 
combined  on  such  occasions  because  there  were  rea- 
sons for  both.  A  notable  instance  was  the  keeping  of 
March  13,  1658,  N.  S.,  which  is  twice  designated  in 
a  lengthy  proclamation  as  "  a  general  fast-prayer  and 
thank  day  "  (algeemenen  vast  beed  en  dank  dagh). 
The  prominent  causes  given  for  fasting  and  prayer 
were  '^  fevers  in  some  hamlets  "  and  "  anew  and  never 
heard  of  heresie  named  Quakers ;  "  and  the  causes  for 
thanksgiving  the  prosperity  of  the  province,  its  "  peace, 
increased  people  and  trade."  ^ 

The  fevers  above  mentioned  spread  abroad  as  the 
season  advanced.  Many  died,  and  it  was  with  diffi- 
culty that  the  depleted  harvests  were  gathered.  In- 
deed for  the  next  three  years  there  was  little  to  call 
forth  unusual  thanksgivings,  for  the  sickness  prevailed 
in  every  hamlet,  and  troubles  with  the  Indians  kept 
them  in  constant  fear.  Several  fast  days  were  ob- 
served as  follows :  October  23,  1658,^  April  2  and 
October  15,  1659,  and  March  24,  1660.  But  to- 
ward the  close  of  1661  the  sun  appeared  from  the 
clouds,  for  the  sickness  ceased,  a  goodly  harvest  was 

^  In  the  Dutch  language,  MS.  Bee.  of  New  Amsterdam^  vol.  ii., 
translation,  vol.  iii.  85-87  ;  also,  MS.  Court.  Min.^  viii.  699 ;  Trans, 
from  the  Dutch,  xiv.  77-79. 

2  Proclamation  in  full  in  Affairs  and  Men  of  New  Amsterdam,  pp. 
155-157;  also,  MS.  Coun.  Min.,  viii.  995  ;  Trans,  from  the  Dutch,  xiv. 
374-376.  A  discrepancy  in  the  date  is  noted.  Both  October  16  and 
23  are  given.  This  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  more  re- 
mote settlements  may  not  have  received  the  order  in  time  to  keep 
the  earlier  date. 


172         FAST  AND  THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

gathered,  and  a  temporary  peace  with  the  savages  was 
secured.  Wherefore  a  "  general  day  of  fasting  prayer 
and  thanksgiving"  was  observed  March  15,  1662, 
N.  S.i  Though  instances  of  the  same  designation  are 
met  with  afterwards,  —  as  in  the  monthly  fasts  of 
1673,^ — in  general  the  Dutch  term  disappeared.  It 
was  after  all  an  appropriate  idiom,  even  if  it  is  con- 
sidered as  merely  such,  for  no  thanksgiving  was  with- 
out the  necessity  for  supplication,  and  it  was  quite 
like  the  Dutch  to  find  something  to  be  thankful  for 
even  in  their  darkest  times.  A  measure  of  gratitude 
would  have  sweetened  many  a  New  England  fast,  and 
certainly  there  was  reason  enough  for  it.  The  Dutch 
had  come  from  quite  another  atmosphere  than  the 
Puritans.  A  social  license  was  legitimate  among 
them  during  the  latter  hours  of  the  Sabbath  day  and 
other  holy  days,  and  it  was  natural  that  this  shoidd 
pass  over  to  a  fast  or  thanksgiving.  But  the  English 
influence,  while  it  did  not  check  this  mingling  of  the 
two  elements,  soon  made  them  merely  civil  celebra- 
tions, which  there  was  no  church  influence  strong 
enough  to  consecrate. 

The  troubles  between  the  New  England  colonists 
and  the  Dutch  in  1653  —  threatening  a  war  which 
would  certainly  have  been  disastrous  to  both  —  pre- 
sent a  study.  Both  parties  went  to  God  in  fasting 
and  prayer,  and  doubtless  with  confidence  in  his  favor, 
since  both  considered  themselves  in  the  right.     The 

1  MS.  Council  Minutes^  x.  27-31.  In  some  places  this  was  the  first 
of  a  course  of  days  kept  quarterly. 

2  MS,  Records,  iLK\\\.  158;  Trans,  from  the  Butch  xxiii.  91,  92  ;  New 
Jersey  Archives,  i.  139.  The  course  was  the  first  Wednesday  of  each 
month,  and  began  December  3,  O.  S.  Two  versions  give  the  date  as 
December  2. 


CUSTOMS  IN  NEW  NETHERLAND,        173 

Dutch  complained  that  their  EngKsh  neighbors  had 
trespassed  upon  their  territory ;  the  English  were  ap- 
prehensive of  a  conspiracy  between  the  Dutch  and  the 
Indians  to  destroy  their  settlements.  In  the  midst  of 
preparations  for  war,  by  the  command  of  his  High 
Mightiness  Peter  Stuyvesant,  the  pious  burghers  in- 
augurated a  series  of  fast  days  April  9, 1653,  to  con- 
tinue the  first  Wednesday  of  each  month.^  That  very 
day  at  least  one  Puritan  congregation  was  convened  to 
recite  before  the  Lord  the  wickedness  of  the  proposed 
invasion  of  the  Indians  "  instigated  by  the  Dutch."  ^ 
Doubtless  the  services  of  each  would  have  been  decid- 
edly interesting  to  the  other.  The  feeling  increased 
as  months  passed,  and  as  to  Connecticut  it  was  aug- 
mented by  the  opposition  to  the  war  in  Massachusetts, 
on  which  account  the  latter  received  an  uncompli- 
mentary mention  in  the  former's  fast-day  proclamation 
of  March  15  following.  Yet  it  so  turned  out  that 
even  as  the  New  Haven  Colony  was  sharpening  its 
sword  on  the  altar  June  28,  seeking  God  "  in  an 
extraordinary  way  in  fasting  &  praire  for  a  blessing 
vpon  the  enterprise  abroad,"  the  news  came  of  a 
peace  concluded  between  England  and  the  United 
Provinces.  Of  course  thanksgiving  days  were  then  in 
order.  At  New  Amsterdam  they  were  heartily  glad 
to  hear  the  news,  to  confirm  which  Stuyvesant  sent 
two  messengers  to  New  Haven,  and  a  thanksgiving 

1  MS.  Council  Minutes^  v.  115 ;  MS.  Rec.  of  New  Amsterdam,  i. 
182  ;  Affairs  and  Men  of  New  Amsterdam^  pp.  123,  124. 

2  N.  E.  Gen.  Reg.,  x.  39.  March  30,  O.  S.,  was  April  9,  N.  S.  The 
Barnstable  Church  also  kept  May  11,  and  their  records  indicate 
that  it  was  "  requested  by  their  [our]  Governours  Maiestraites  and 
Commissioners  being  att  Boston."  It  was  probably  kept,  therefore,  in 
all  the  colonies. 


174        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

was  kept  August  12.  The  order  commends  fasting  in 
calamities,  and  thanksgiving  for  deliverances.  In  true 
Davidic  style  it  says,  "  Praise,  English  Jerusalem, 
thank  the  Lord  of  Zion  of  Netherland."  Two  ser- 
vices were  held  upon  that  day,  but  scarcely  had  the  af- 
ternoon congregation  been  dismissed  when  sounds  of 
rejoicing  and  gay  merriment  filled  the  streets,  and  mu- 
sic and  dancing,  sports  and  feasting,  gave  the  newly 
palisaded  town  a  holiday  appearance.  In  Massachu- 
setts the  thanksgiving  was  September  20 ;  but  no 
such  day  is  known  to  have  been  kept  in  the  New 
Haven  and  Connecticut  colonies,  and  perhaps  their 
intention  was  diverted  to  fasting  on  account  of  the  In- 
dians, which  they  were  about  to  chastise.^ 

The  year  1663  was  also  a  trying  one  in  New  Neth- 
erland. It  was  shaken  by  the  earthquake,  which 
was  general  throughout  the  country;  there  was  a 
flood  which  inundated  the  fields  and  greatly  injured 
the  harvests ;  and  the  smallpox  broke  out  with  malig- 
nity, spreading  in  some  localities  with  rapidity,  so  that 
villages  were  decimated.  These  causes  impelled  them 
to  a  fast  April  4.  They  had  not  recovered  their 
spirits  ere  the  Indians  surprised  Eusopus  settlement, 
and  massacred  many.  A  series  of  monthly  fasts  fol- 
lowed, beginning  July  4,  which  were  kept  throughout 
the  entire  province ;  ^  and  so  far  as  appears  these  con- 
tinued until  June  4,  1664,  N.  S.,  when  they  were  con- 
cluded with  a  thanksgiving,  peace  having  been  effected. 

^  A  thanks^ ving  had  been  appointed  for  October  11 ,  but  meanwhile 
war  with  the  Indians  was  determined  on  by  the  commissioners,  and 
the  thanksgiving  was  put  ofP  by  the  fast  October  12. 

^  Among  the  archives  at  Albany  is  preserved  a  list  of  the  places  to 
which  proclamations  were  sent.  For  fourteen  it  was  put  in  the  Dutch 
language,  and  for  six  in  the  English. 


CUSTOMS  IN  NEW  NETHERLAND.         175 

Among  the  archives  at  Albany,  there  is  a  letter  writ- 
ten by  Rev.  Hermanns  Brown  of  Wiltwyek  (Eusopus), 
in  which  he  asks  that  June  7,  the  day  of  the  massacre, 
may  be  kept  annually  as  a  thanksgiving  in  commem- 
oration of  that  event. ^  Probably  this  was  not  done, 
but  it  is  the  first  record  of  a  desire  for  an  annual 
thanksgi\dng,  and  shows  that  the  Dutch  had  no  such 
custom. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  dwell  further  on  these  days 
which  were  observed  in  New  Netherland.  Enough 
has  been  recorded  to  show  the  prevalence  of  the  cus- 
tom and  its  points  of  difference  from  that  of  their 
English  neighbors.  They  were  continued  under  the 
English  government.  From  1690  to  1710  they  oc- 
curred almost  every  year,  though  they  seem  to  par- 
take more  of  foreign  relations  than  those  ordered  by 
the  Dutch  directors.  During  the  French  and  Indian 
wars  they  were  frequent,  and  other  plantations  to  the 
south  and  west  either  kept  the  same  days,  or  ordered 
the  like.  Tlie  influence  of  New  York  tended  to  pro- 
mote this,  but  the  main  reason  was  the  relation  of 
these  provinces  to  the  mother  coimtry,  which  at  the 
time  kept  such  occasions  periodically,  and  encouraged 
or  ordered  the  provinces  to  do  the  same.  Hence  we 
find  as  to  these  kept  during  the  wars  an  agreement 
between  New  England  and  other  colonies  such  as 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  those  at  the  south. 
In  proof  and  illustration  of  this,  such  as  we  have 
found  in  records  or  manuscript  documents  are  in- 
cluded in  the  Calendar ;  and  they  prepare  us  to  un- 
derstand how  it  was,  in  the  days  of  the  Revolution, 
that  the  Continental  Congress  could  expect  a  willing- 
^  M8.  Correspondence,  x.  122. 


176        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING   DAYS. 

ness  to  keep  such  as  they  ordered.  It  was  a  step  in 
the  development  of  national  days.  Those  proclama- 
tions, printed  from  1693  for  many  years  on  the  press 
of  William  Bradford,  and  now  of  the  greatest  rarity, 
carried  the  custom  abroad  into  the  newest  settlements. 
Wherever  there  was  a  church  or  a  minister  the  idea 
found  a  reception.  Who  can  doubt  that,  in  those 
days,  the  custom  was  eminently  beneficial  ?  It  was  a 
means  of  awakening  minds  to  religious  duties,  it 
brought  new  communities  into  mutual  sympathy,  and 
abQve  aU  it  nursed  their  loyalty  and  patriotism. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

PESTS,   PLAGUES,    AND   PRODIGIES. 

1640-1670. 

The  civil  wars  in  England,  whatever  the  hopes 
they  offered  in  religious  matters,  had  a  depressing 
effect  upon  the  prosperity  hitherto  experienced  in 
New  England.  Immigration  almost  entirely  ceased. 
There  was  a  general  stagnation  of  trade.  Many  set- 
tlers became  discouraged  and  returned  to  England. 
So  a  spirit  of  discontent  manifested  itself  which 
reacted  upon  the  religious  life  and  heroic  temper  of 
the  people.  This  was  increased  by  uncertainty  as  to 
the  government,  and  the  vagaries  of  certain  religious 
sects  which  threatened  their  peace.  And,  as  was 
quite  natural,  the  baser  elements  of  society  crept  out 
into  the  light,  startling  the  commimity  with  most  re- 
pulsive crimes. 

AU  this  brought  on  a  period  of  lamentations  in 
their  history,  in  which  of  course  the  prophets  bore  a 
prominent  part.  The  plantations,  they  were  wont  to 
say,  had  been  visited  with  the  prosperous  smiles  of 
Heaven,  but  the  day  of  calamities  and  religious  de- 
generacy had  come,  and  the  favor  of  God  was  with- 
held. Cotton  Mather  charges  that  many  forgot  the 
"  errand  into  the  wilderness,"  and  neglected  rehgion 
for  the  "  enchantments  of  the  world ;  "  and  the  reader 
can  understand  how  this  might  have  appeared  to  be 


178         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

true.  The  child  of  a  dozen  summers,  who  had  come 
over  in  the  first  ships,  was  now  the  head  of  a  family, 
clearing  his  acres  and  building  his  home.  A  whole- 
some industrial  motive  urged  on  his  labors,  while  the 
religious  motive,  which  alone  had  been  equal  to  the 
earlier  hardships,  was  dominant  still  in  the  life  of  his 
father.  But  the  point  which  engages  us  is  this :  the 
prevailing  idea  was,  that  this  decline  in  religion  was 
the  provoking  cause  of  a  series  of  judgments  upon 
New  England.  Scarcely  a  season  passed  which  was 
not  in  some  way  remarkable,  at  least  sufficiently  so  to 
be  noted  in  their  proclamations.  Everything  in  the 
way  of  excessive  cold,  snow  and  hail  storms,  —  es- 
pecially if  out  of  season,  — floods  and  fires,  and  violent 
winds  which  damaged  their  tender  fruit-trees,  was 
made  a  serious  occasion  for  meditation  upon  their 
degenerate  ways. 

Of  all  natural  causes,  the  droughts  were  the  most 
frequent  occasion  for  fasts.  They  did  not  wait  for 
parched  fields,  but  when  rain  was  needed  they  prayed 
for  it.  If  it  came  between  the  proclamation  and  the 
day,  they  kept  a  thanksgiving.  Twice  in  Massachu- 
setts during  this  period,  once  in  1642,  when  September 
22  was  set  on  account  of  excessive  rains,  and  again  in 
1645,  when  June  26  was  to  be  kept  for  a  drought,  the 
weather  changed  before  the  day  arrived.^  The  very 
intention  was  thought  to  have  had  power  with  God. 
Droughts  were  quite  general  in  1639, 1644, 1662,  and 
1666,  and  were  the  principal  cause  for  the  following 
fasts  in  Massachusetts :  June  13,  1639,  July  3,  1644, 

^  Winthrop's  Hist.,  ii.  102,  264.  Cf.  Barnstable  church  records  as 
to  June  14,  1652.  The  emergency  was  so  great  in  1666  that  the  Rox- 
bury  church  anticipated  the  public  fast  by  two  days.  Roxbury  chh. 
rec,  N.  E.  Beg.,  xxxiv.  162;  Dorchester  chh.  rec,  pp.  50,  51. 


PESTS,  PLAGUES,  AND  PRODIGIES.        179 

June  5,  1662,  and  June  21,  1666.  That  of  1662  was 
unusally  protracted,  and  certain  unbelievers  openly 
attributed  it  to  the  contemplated  convening  of  the 
synod.  Tliis  was  a  challenge  to  prayer,  so  when  it 
met  the  week  after  the  public  fast,  they  made  it  their 
first  duty  to  keep  June  11,  and,  as  a  copious  rain  fell 
the  day  after,  and  "  seasonable  showers  continued  week 
after  week  imtil  the  harvest,"  we  may  suppose  they 
silenced  their  skeptical  critics.^  But  a  more  careful 
examination  on  this  point  is  reserved  for  another  occa- 
sion. 

A  second  affliction  during  these  years  was  the  blast- 
ing of  their  wheat  crop.  There  was  some  appearance 
of  mildew  in  1663,  the  spring  being  cold  and  damp ; 
but,  according  to  the  best  authorities,  1664  witnessed 
the  first  general  blasting  in  the  Bay  Colony.^  It 
began  in  the  latter  part  of  June,  and  so  diminished 
the  harvest  that  it  was  a  prominent  cause  for  humilia^ 
tion  upon  the  public  fast,  September  1.  Again  it  vis- 
ited them  in  1665  and  1666.  The  Connecticut  Col- 
ony was  not  exempt.  It  appeared  there  and  at  New 
Haven  in  1665.  The  order  for  a  fast  in  Connecticut, 
May  29,  1668,  earnestly  urges  that  we  "  humble  our 
souls  before  the  Lord  in  the  sight  and  sence  of  o'  man- 
ifold sins,  whereby  we  have  caused  the  Lord  to  goe  out 
against  us  in  those  yearly  judgments  of  blasting  the 
increase  of  the  feild."  ^  Almost  exactly  the  same  lan- 
guage is  used  the  next  year  in  the  order  for  June  16. 
In    reference   to    this    chastisement,  the  fathers  had 

1  HuU's  Diary,  p.  189;  Rox.  chh.  rec,  N.  E.  Beg.,  xxxiv.  88; 
Coffin's  Newbury,  p.  65. 

2  HuU's  Diary;  Morton's  N.  E.  Mem.,  pp.  201,  205,  208. 
8  Conn.  Col.  Bee,  ii.  89,  90. 


180         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

a  good  taste  of  their  owii  doctrine,  for  the  Quakers 
claimed  that  it  was  a  judgment  upon  them  for  their 
uncharitable  deahngs. 

God  also  sent  forth  swarms  of  destructive  insects 
against  them,  which  are  so  variously  named  canker- 
worms,  palmerworms,  and  caterpillars,  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  say  certainly  what  species  is  referred  to,  or 
whether  they  were  the  same.  Winthrop  gives  the  fol- 
lowing description  of  these  pests,  which  made  their 
appearance  in  the  summer  of  1646  :  "  Great  harm  was 
done  in  corn  (especially  wheat  and  barley)  in  this 
month  by  a  caterpillar,  like  a  black  worm  about  an 
inch  and  a  half  long.  They  eat  up  first  the  blades  of 
the  stalk,  then  they  eat  up  the  tassels,  whereupon  the 
ear  withered.  It  was  believed  by  divers  good  ob- 
servers, that  they  fell  in  a  great  thunder  shower,  for 
divers  yards  and  other  bare  places,  where  not  one  of 
them  was  to  be  seen  an  hour  before,  were  presently 
after  the  shower  almost  covered  with  them,  besides 
grass  places  where  they  were  not  so  easily  discerned. 
They  did  the  most  harm  in  the  southern  parts,  as 
Ehode  Island  etc,  and  in  the  eastern  parts,  in  their 
Indian  corn.  In  divers  places  the  churches  kept  a 
day  of  humiliation,  and  presently  after  the  caterpillars 
vanished  away."  ^  With  this  account  we  may  com- 
pare the  Roxbury  church  records,  which  fix  the  time 
as  "  about  the  end  of  the  5th  month,"  and  give  fur- 
ther details  of  the  devastation.  The  oats,  barley,  and 
wheat  were  almost  destroyed,  and  whole  meadows  of 
grass  were  devoured.  This  account  says  the  visitation 
was  general  "  over  aU  the  English  plantations."  It 
concludes  also  with  the  following  reflection  :  "  Much 

1  Winthrop's  Hist.,  ii.  327. 


PESTS,  PLAGUES,  AND  PRODIGIES.        181 

prayer  there  was  made  to  God  about  it  w*^  fasting  in 
divers  places,  and  the  Lord  heard  and  on  a  suddaine 
tooke  j^  all  away  againe  in  all  p*^  of  the  country  to 
the  wonderment  of  all  men:  it  was  the  Lord  for  it 
was  done  suddainly."  ^  If  an  account  in  Johnson's 
"  Wonder-working  Providence "  refers  to  this  oc- 
casion, as  is  probable,  it  adds  interesting  items. 
"  Also  the  Lord  was  pleased  to  awaken  us  with  an 
Army  of  caterpillars,  that  had  he  not  suddainly 
rebuked  them,  they  had  surely  destroyed  the  husband- 
mans  hope.  Where  they  fell  upon  trees  they  left 
them  like  winter-wasting  cold,  bare  and  naked:  and 
although  they  fell  on  fields  very  rarely  yet  in  some 
places  they  made  as  clear  a  riddance  as  the  harvest 
mans  hand,  and  uncovered  the  gay  green  Meadow 
ground,  but  indeed  the  Lord  did  by  some  plats  shew 
us  what  he  could  have  done  with  the  whole,  and  in 
many  places  cast  them  into  the  highways,  that  the 
Cart-wheels  in  their  passage  were  painted  green  with 
running  over  the  great  swarms  of  them."  This,  the 
author  adds,  recalled  the  people  to  the  end  of  their 
coming  over,  for  they  had  wandered  far  into  the  wil- 
derness out  of  the  "  sound  of  the  silver  Trumpets 
blown  by  the  laborious  Ministers  of  Christ."  ^  It  is 
evident  that  these  '^  good  observers  "  were  not  natural- 
ists ;  but  what  an  effect  the  belief  must  have  had  that 
the  caterpillars  were  showered  from  heaven  !  How 
great,  too,  must  their  faith  have  been,  when,  in  answer 
to  their  prayers,  they  suddenly  vanished  ! 

1  Rox.  chh.  rec,  N,  E.  Reg.,  xxxiii.  65. 

2  Johnson's  Wonder-working  Providence,  p.  214.  On  the  fast  day, 
July  26,  1687,  James  Allen  of  Boston  preached  a  sermon,  in  which 
he  attributes  an  afflictive  providence  of  worms  and  caterpillars  to  the 
"Neglect  in  supporting  and  Maintaining  the  Pure  Worship  of  God." 


182         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

The  canker-worm  may  have  been  noted  earlier,  but 
it  made  its  appearance  in  force  in  1657,  and  continued 
its  devastations  yearly  to  1666,  reaching  a  height 
in  1665.  Such  periods  have  been  known  since,  as 
about  1686,  1735,  and  1769.  Historians  were  not 
particular  in  descriptions  of  these  pests.  The  differ- 
ence between  this  and  the  former  visitation  seems  to 
have  been  that  the  damage  was  done  to  the  trees  instead 
of  the  fields.  In  his  diary,  under  1661,  Hidl  says, 
"  The  canker-worm  hath  for  four  years  devoured  most 
of  the  apples  in  Boston  that  the  apple  trees  look  in  4th 
month  as  if  it  was  the  9th  month."  This  was  one 
prominent  cause  for  the  Massachusetts  fast  day  June 
22,  1665,  and  probably  also  for  June  14  in  Connecti- 
cut. Incidental  references  are  found  to  damage  from 
grasshoppers  in  1666,  which,  though  of  little  extent, 
sufficed  to  give  the  ministers  a  chance  to  make  homi- 
letic  use  of  the  passage,  "  That  which  the  palmer-worm 
hath  left  hath  the  locust  eaten,  and  that  which  the 
locust  hath  left  hath  the  canker-worm  eaten,  and  that 
which  the  canker-worm  hath  left  hath  the  caterpillar 
eaten." 

Some  have  supposed  that  there  were  in  those  days 
plagues  of  locusts,  but  the  statement  is  not  well 
founded.  Of  1648  Winthrop  says,  "  About  the 
midst  of  this  summer  there  arose  a  fly  out  of  the 
ground  about  the  bigness  of  the  top  of  a  man's  httle 
finger  of  brown  colour.  They  filled  the  woods  from 
Connecticut  to  Sudbury  with  a  great  noise  and  eat  up 
the  young  sprouts  of  the  trees,  but  meddled  not  with 
the  com.  They  were  also  between  Plimouth  and 
Braintree  but  came  no  further.  If  the  Lord  had  not 
stopped  them  they  had  spoiled  all  our  orchards  for 


PESTS,  PLAGUES,  AND  PRODIGIES.        188 

they  did  some  few.i  "  Making  some  allowance  in  this 
story  for  the  destruction  wrought,  we  conjecture  that 
this  fly  was  the  cicada,  known  as  the  seventeen-year 
locust.  And  leaving  the  period  of  its  reappearance 
to  the  naturalist  it  is  a  fact  that  in  1665,  seventeen 
years  afterwards,  according  to  Hull's  "  Diary  "  "  multi- 
tudes of  flying  caterpillars  arose  out  of  the  ground 
and  from  roots  of  com,  making  such  a  noise  in  the 
air  that  travellers  must  speak  loud  to  hear  one  an- 
other, yet  they  only  seized  upon  the  trees  in  the  wil- 
derness." The  well-known  noise  of  the  cicada  ex- 
plains these  extracts  most  satisfactorily.  A  veritable 
plague  of  locusts  would  certainly  have  spread  devasta- 
tion far  and  near. 

In  early  times  there  were  multitudes  of  wild  pigeons 
in  New  England.  They  were  so  numerous  in  1642  as 
to  do  great  damage  to  the  grain  fields.  Again  they 
came  in  1648,  but  as  the  harvest  was  mostly  gathered 
there  was  little  to  destroy.  Thousands  were  killed 
and  used  for  food,  upon  which  account  Winthrop 
observes  "  thus  the  Lord  showetl  us  that  he  could  make 
the  same  creature,  which  formerly  had  been  a  great 
chastisement,  now  to  become  a  great  blessing."  ^ 

We  turn  now  to  consider  afflictions  of  a  more  seri- 
ous character,  —  the  diseases  of  various  kinds  which 
prevailed  in  the  plantations  during  this  period.  If  at 
aU  exceptional,  these  were  particidarly  regarded  as 
disclosures  of  divine  wrath,  and  a  large  proportion  of 
the  fast  and  thanksgiving  orders  had  some  reference 
to  them.  The  modern  physician,  who  reads  the  pre- 
scriptions with  amazement,  wonders  that  the  mortality 
was  not  even  greater  when  infectious  diseases  broke 

1  Winthrop's  HisLy  ii.  405  2  j^^^v/.^  ji.  113^  4O4, 


184         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

out  among  them ;  but  on  the  whole  the  climate  was 
healthful  and  the  people  hardy,  the  sick  were  well 
cared  for  and  the  population  was  scattered.  Never- 
theless hundreds  died  in  every  year  of  plague.  Sick- 
nesses, of  types  unknown  to  them,  carried  away  their 
children.  This  was  a  cause  for  prayer,  to  which  they 
responded  with  great  fervor,  and  as  such  afflictions 
were  considered  as  pimishments,  we  can  understand 
how  they  cast  a  sorrowful  depression  over  their  reli- 
gious services.  The  years  from  1644  to  1649  were 
notable  for  visitations  of  sundry  diseases,  as  also  were 
those  from  1658  to  1666.  Yet  we  do  not  know  what 
the  particular  sickness  was  each  year.  Scurvy  was 
general  among  new-comers.  The  limited  diet  accounts 
for  certain  common  complaints.  There  was  much 
sickness  in  the  summer  of  1644,  and  partly  therefor 
a  fast  was  kept  in  Massachusetts  July  3.  The  Rox- 
bury  records  notice  that  the  first  week  in  the  10th 
month  of  1645  ''  was  the  most  mortal  week  that  ever 
Eoxbury  saw."  Five  died  in  one  week  and  many 
more  were  sick.  We  have  no  clue  to  the  nature  of 
this  malady.  The  next  spring,  however,  there  was  a 
malignant  fever  generally  prevalent,  "  whereof,"  says 
Winthrop,  "  some  died  in  five  or  six  days,  but  if  they 
escaped  the  eighth  they  recovered,  and  divers  of  the 
churches  sought  the  Lord  by  public  humiliation,  and 
the  Lord  was  entreated,  so  as  about  the  middle  of  the 
third  month  it  ceased."  ^  The  thanksgiving  on  June  11 
following  celebrated  this  "  mercy  of  God  in  withdraw- 
ing his  afflicting  hand."  But  the  year  1647  was  even 
more  sickly,  though  perhaps  the  mortality  was  less. 
In  the  summer  we  find  the  Barnstable  church  fasting 

^  Winthrop's  Hist.,  ii.  315. 


PESTS,  PLAGUES,  AND  PRODIGIES,        185 

July  22,  because  there  was  "  sickness  upon  every 
family  and  every  one  in  every  family,"  and  the  order 
for  a  fast  in  the  Bay  Colony  April  20, 1648,  speaks  of 
"the  Lord's  visitation  generally  through  tliis  country 
the  last  summer  by  an  unknown  disease."  Winthrop 
gives  tliis  more  complete  description  of  it :  "  An  epi- 
demical sickness  was  through  the  country  among 
Indians  and  Enghsh,  French  and  Dutch.  It  took 
them  like  a  cold,  and  a  light  fever  with  it.  Such  as 
bled  or  used  cooling  drinks  died ;  those  who  took  com- 
fortable things,  for  most  part  recovered  and  that 
in  few  days.  WTierein  a  special  providence  of  God 
appeared,  for  not  a  family,  nor  but  few  persons  es- 
caped it,  had  it  brought  aU  so  weak  as  it  did  some, 
and  continued  so  long,  our  hay  and  corn  had  been  lost 
for  want  of  help  ;  but  such  was  the  mercy  of  God  to 
his  people,  as  few  died,  not  above  forty  or  fifty  in  the 
Massachusetts  and  near  as  many  at  Connecticut."  ^ 
Thomas  Hooker  was  one  of  the  lamented  victims. 
John  Eliot's  record,  of  greater  length,  says  it  followed 
extremely  hot  weather  and  a  thunderstorm,  and  de- 
scribes it  as  "  a  very  depe  cold,  wth  some  tincture  of 
a  feaver  &  f idl  of  malignity  &  very  dangerous  if  not 
well  regarded  by  keeping  a  low  diet."  Another  symp- 
tom given  is  that  it  "  seized  upon  their  spirits."  But 
it  is  most  to  our  purpose  to  note  that  Eliot  sets  forth 
the  supernatural  conception  of  it  by  saying,  "  It  was 
suddaine  &  general! ,  as  if  the  Lord  had  imediately 
sent  forth  an  angel,  not  w*^  a  sword  to  kill  but  w*^  a 
rod  to  chastize,  and  he  smot  all,  good  &  bad,  old  & 
young."  2     Passing  other  features  recorded,  this  dis- 

1  Winthrop's  Hist.,  ii.  378. 

«  Rox.  chh.  rec,  N.  E.  Reg.,  xxxiii.  237,  238.    Possibly  the  excite- 


186         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

ease  seems  to  have  been  what  is  now  known  as  la 
grippe,  to  which  possibly  Hull  also  referred  in  his 
diary  as  prevailing  in  1660,  and  which  has  been 
known  in  modern  times.  At  all  events  it  was  as 
really  a  plague  in  the  minds  of  the  fathers  as  any 
wherewith  God  punished  the  Egyptians.  The  in- 
quiry was  at  once  abroad  what  had  provoked  it.  The 
apostle  of  Roxbury  speaks  for  many  of  his  brethren  in 
his  meditation  :  "  To  have  such  colds  in  the  height  of 
the  heat  of  sumer  shews  vs,  y*  in  the  height  of  the 
means  of  grace,  peace  liberty  of  ordinances  &c  yet 
may  we  then  fall  into  malignant  &  mortal  colds  apos- 
tacys  &  coolings." 

The  year  1649  was  remarkable  for  a  sickness  upon 
the  children.  There  was  fasting  in  the  Plymouth 
Colony  November,  15,  children  in  the  Bay  dying  by 
the  "  chin-cough  &  the  pockes,"  and  the  same  also 
among  them.  After  other  fasts  for  the  same  cause, 
March  13, 1649-50  commemorated  with  gratitude  the 
cessation  and  recovery,  but  such  diseases  continued  to 
prevail  in  season  for  several  years. 

After  a  period  of  general  health,  sicknesses  again 
distressed  them,  and  both  Massachusetts  and  Con- 
necticut were  fasting  in  1658  on  that  account,  the 
former  November  10,  and  the  latter  September  8.  In 
1661,  too,  there  was  an  epidemic  in  Connecticut,  and 
in  1662  in  Massachusetts.  As  if  these  were  not 
humbling  enough,  the  smallpox  broke  out  in  1666,  ^ 
having  been  brought  over  from  England,  where  it  had 

ment  was  increased  by  news  of  the  plague  —  doubtless  the  yellow  fever 
—  which  that  year  raged  in  the  West  Indies.  Hutchinson  Papers,  p. 
223  ;  Winthrop's  Hist.,  ii.  380-382. 

1  Rox.  chh.  rec,  N.  E.  Beg.,  xxxiv.  166 ;  Morton's  N,  E,  Mem,,  p. 
207.    . 


PESTS,  PLAGUES,  AND  PRODIGIES.        187 

raged  with  great  severity.  But  this  examination  is 
sufficient  to  show  cause  for  their  humiliations ;  and 
no  one  can  comprehend  what  those  days  were,  without 
measuring  the  effect  of  such  afflictions  upon  their  re- 
ligious life. 

It  happened  also,  at  intervals,  that  a  weird  spell  was 
cast  over  their  religious  assemblies  by  a  superstitious 
belief  in  the  supernatural,  which  peopled  the  forests 
with  evil  spirits,  filled  the  air  with  strange  sounds,  and 
so  wrought  upon  their  fearful  souls  that  their  religious 
life  was  tempered  with  dismal  forebodings.  They 
were  indeed  not  exceptions  in  their  day,  for  such  a 
belief  was  common  in  Europe,  but  their  life  in  the 
wilderness  intensified  its  effect.  Nothing  monstrous 
could  transpire  about  them,  but  that  they  humbly 
asked  what  it  meant,  and  in  the  answer  the  prophet 
often  put  a  strain  upon  his  imagination.  A  calf  was 
brought  forth  at  Ipswich,  having  one  head  and  tlu'ce 
mouths,  three  noses  and  six  eyes,  whereupon  the  wise 
Winthrop  is  moved  to  write  :  "  What  these  prodigies 
portend  the  Lord  only  knows,  which  in  his  due  time 
he  will  manifest."  ^  Many  such  illustrations  are 
scattered  throughout  their  history.  If  they  found 
evil  omens  in  such  trivial  things,  much  more  might 
we  expect  they  would  in  earthquakes  and  strange  dis- 
plays in  the  heavens.  They  felt  the  earth  tremble,  as 
it  did  several  times  during  this  period,  and  an  awful 
warning  clutched  at  their  quivering  hearts.  What 
wonder  is  it  that  their  divines  produced  masterpieces 
which  they  christened  with  such  cheerful  titles  as 
"  The  Day  of  Doom  "  !  In  1652  a  comet  appeared, 
which  set  them  questioning  what  was  about  to  hap- 

^  Winthrop' «  Ilistory,  ii.  311. 


188        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

pen.  They  had  not  long  to  wait,  and  Morton  has 
thus  recorded  its  relation  to  the  death  of  John  Cotton : 
"About  the  time  of  his  sickness  there  appeared  in  the 
heavens  over  New  England,  a  comet  giving  a  dim 
light,  and  so  waxed  dimmer  and  dimmer  until  it  be- 
came quite  extinct  and  went  out,  which  time  of  its 
being  extinct  was  soon  after  the  time  of  the  period  of 
his  life,  it  being  a  very  signal  testimony,  that  God 
had  then  removed  a  bright  star,  a  burning  and  a 
shining  light  out  of  the  heaven  of  his  church  here 
imto  celestial  glory  above."  i 

"  That  comets,  great  men's  deaths  do  oft  forego, 
This  present  comet  doth  too  sadly  show."  ^ 

Throughout  most  of  the  winter  of  1664—5  they 
looked  nightly  upon  a  comet  that  gleamed  upon  them 
as  a  portentous  avenger.^  It  was  first  seen  Decem- 
ber 5,  and  remained  in  view  to  February  4.  A  sec- 
ond appeared  March  11.  Moved  by  these  threat- 
enings  the  Council  of  Massachusetts  appointed  a 
public  fast  for  March  22.^  It  is  probable  that  the 
tract  by  Rev.  Samuel  Danforth,  of  Roxbury,  entitled, 
"  An  Astronomical  Description  of  the  late  Comet  or 
Blazing  Star  .  .  .  with  a  brief  Theological  Applica- 
tion thereof,"  was,  in  part  at  least,  his  sermon  deliv- 
ered on  this  occasion.     It  was  written  that  month, 

1  Morton's  iV.  E.  Mem.,  p.  163. 

2  Ihid.     Lines  from  the  funeral  elegy  by  Rev.  John  Norton. 

^  Josselyn's  Account  of  Two  Voyages  to  N.  E.,  ed.  1860,  p.  42; 
Morton's  N.  E.  Mem.,  p.  198 ;  Hutchinson's  Hist.,  i.  226 ;  Rox.  chh. 
rec,  N.  E.  Beg.,  xxxiv.  162 ;  Increase  Mather's  Discourse  Concerning 
Comets. 

*  The  Dorchester  church  records  say  the  order  was  "  from  y©  Court," 
but  as  that  body  had  not  been  in  session,  and  the  entry  was  made 
some  time  afterwards,  it  is  doubtless  an  error,  for  Hull's  Diary  says 
it  was  appointed  by  the  council. 


PESTS,  PLAGUES,  AND  PRODIGIES.        189 

and  the  "  Application "  has  the  cast  of  a  fast  ser- 
mon.^ Danforth  was  the  astronomer  and  almanac 
maker  of  the  time.  He  would  not  let  such  an  occa- 
sion pass.  The  theological  application  is  not  given  in 
full,  being  mainly  the  heads  of  his  discourse.  Of  the 
first  comet  Danforth  says,  it  is  "  now  seconded  by  a 
new  appearance  this  spring  concomitant  to  the  trans- 
lation of  our  honored  and  aged  Governor  Mr.  John 
Endicott."  Endicott  died  March  15,  and  the  event 
supported  the  general  view  expressed  on  the  fast  the 
week  following.  In  his  "  New  England's  Memorial " 
a  reference  is  made  to  this  discourse  by  Morton,  and 
that  author  attributes  to  the  influence  of  the  comet 
the  threatened  invasion  by  a  foreign  force,  deaths  by 
thunder  and  lightning,  droughts,  blasting,  and  mildew ; 
and,  reflecting  the  preaching  of  that  day,  he  urges  to 
a  strict  and  serious  examination  of  hearts  and  lives, 
in  order  to  the  finding  out  of  those  sins  that  are  most 
provoking  to  Heaven,  and  the  reforming  of  them,  so 
that  God  may  not  "  stir  up  all  his  wrath,  but  yet  may 
delight  over  them  to  do  them  good  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  year  to  the  end  thereof."  As  such  was  the 
accepted  view,  we  may  conclude  that  it  was  freely 
expressed  by  others  than  this  astronomical  minister. 
Bradstreet  confidently  says,  "The  effects  appeared 
much  in  England,  in  a  great  and  dreadful  plague  that 
followed  the  next  sumer,  in  a  dreadf uU  warr  by  sea 
w*^  the  Dutch,  and  the  burning  of  London  the  2^  year 
following."  2  Xs  time  passed  and  calamities  came 
upon  them  they  reverted  to  this  comet,  which  may 

^  On  the  fast  February  15,  1681,  Samuel  Willard  preached  a  simi- 
lar sermon  on  a  Blazing  Star.    See  Bibliography,  No.  21. 
2  Bradstreet's  "  Journal,"  N.  E.  Beg.^  vol.  ix. 


190         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

have  been  one  reason  for  another  mention  of  it  in  the 
proclamation  for  a  fast  in  Massachusetts  the  2 2d  of 
June  following. 

In  1667  fear  was  spread  abroad  because  of  a 
display  of  zodiacal  light,  which  seemed  to  have  an 
ominous  semblance  to  a  spear  pointed  toward  New 
England.  Some  afterwards  thought  it  had  presaged 
the  earthquake  of  1668,  but  more  agreed  with  the 
sentiment  that  it  referred  to  the  deaths  of  Shepard 
Fhnt  and  Mitchell.i 

Such  were  the  views  entertained  of  these  and  other 
prodigies.  We  know  of  no  author  of  that  day  who 
has  set  them  forth  in  more  striking  form  than  Michael 
Wigglesworth  in  his  poem  entitled  "  God's  Contro- 
versy with  New  England,"  ^  which,  besides  being 
itself  an  inspiration  of  the  drought  of  1662,  gives  in 
thirty-one  stanzas  the  calamities  which  their  stubborn 
sinfulness  induced. 


"  Our  healthful!  dayes  are  at  an  end 
And  sicknesses  come  on 
From  yeer  to  yeer,  becaus  o^  hearts 
Away  from  God  are  gone. 
New  England,  where  for  many  yeers 
You  scarcely  heard  a  cough, 
And  where  Physicians  had  no  work, 
Kow  finds  them  work  enough. 

**  Our  fruitful  seasons  have  been  tumd 
Of  late  to  barrenness. 

Sometimes  through  great  &  parching  drought, 
Sometimes  through  rain's  excess. 
Yea  now  the  pastures  &  com  fields 
For  want  of  rain  do  languish : 

1  Bradstreet's  "  Journal ;  "  Morton's  N.  E.  Mem,,  p.  210. 

2  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Proc.,  xii.  83. 


PESTS,  PLAGUES,  AND  PRODIGIES,        191 

The  cattell  mourn,  &  hearts  of  men 
Are  fill'd  with  fear  and  anguish. 


*  The  clouds  are  often  gathered 
As  if  we  should  have  rain  : 
But  for  o^  great  unworthiness 
Are  scattered  again. 
We  pray  &  fast,  &  make  fair  shewes, 
As  if  we  meant  to  turn : 
But  whilst  we  turn  not,  Grod  goes  on 
Our  field  &  fruits  to  bum." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Jacob's  trouble  in  the  wilderness. 

1675-1676. 

On  the  23(1  of  October,  1676,  the  General  Court 
of  the  Connecticut  Colony  made  proclamation  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

*'  This  Court  considering  the  enlarged  goodness  of  God  to  his  peo- 
ple in  this  wilderness,  in  appeareing  so  gloriously  for  their  help  in 
subdueing  of  o*"  enemies  in  so  good  a  measure  as  he  hath  done,  and 
his  mercy  in  remoueing  sickness  from  the  land,  in  the  comfortable 
and  plentifull  harvest  that  wee  haue  receiued,  and  the  continuance  of 
o'"  priuiledges  and  liberties,  ciuill  and  ecclesiasticall  hath  moued  this 
Court  to  nominate  and  appoynt  the  first  day  of  November  next,  to 
be  solemnly  kept  a  day  of  Publique  Thankesgiueing  thorowout  this 
Colony,  to  bless  and  prayse  the  Lord  for  his  great  mercy  towards  vs, 
with  prayer  that  the  Lord  would  help  vs  in  our  Hues  and  wayes  to 
walk  answerable  to  his  abundant  mercy esi"  ^ 

On  the  25th  of  the  same  month  the  General  Court  of 
Massachusetts  appointed  a  thanksgiving  for  Novem- 
ber 9.     We  quote  from  the  proclamation. 

"  God  hath  made  bare  his  oune  arme  for  our  deliuerance,  by  taking 
away  counsell  &  courage  from  our  ennemjes,  &  giying  strange  advan- 
tage, &  great  success  to  ourselues  &  confoederates  against  them,  that 
of  those  seuerall  tribes  &  partjes  that  haue  hitherto  risen  vp  against 
us,  which  were  not  a  few,  there  now  scarse  remajnes  a  name  or  fam- 
ily of  them  in  their  former  habitations  but  are  either  slayne,  capti- 
vated, or  fled  into  remote  parts  of  this  wilderness,  or  lye  hid,  dispayr- 
ing  of  their  first  intentions  against  us."  ^ 

It  is  probable  that  a  similar  occasion  was  also  kept 
in   the    Plymouth    Colony,    either   by  action   of   the 

1  Conn.  Col.  Bee,  ii.  296. 

^  This  is    one  of  the  few  proclamations  extant  in  broadside.     It  is 


JACOB'S    TROUBLE  IN  THE  WILDERNESS.  193 

churches  or  civil  authority,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  they  had  on  the  17  th  of  August  previous  cele- 
brated the  most  memorable  thanksgiving  of  many 
years.  These  public  thanksgivings  were  the  climax 
of  rejoicings  after  the  disastrous  experiences  of  King 
Philip's  War,  which  Rev.  James  Fitch  of  Nor- 
wich, Conn.,  was  pleased  to  call  "  Jacob's  Trouble  in 
the  Wilderness."  The  background  upon  which  they 
must  be  seen  is  the  picture  of  blazing  homes,  cruel 
massacre,  and  a  more  dreadful  captivity,  which  impelled 
the  fathers  of  New  England  to  humiliation  as  never 
before  nor  since  in  their  history.  It  is  only  our  pur- 
pose to  mention  the  events  of  the  war  so  far  as  it  may 
be  necessary  to  give  the  proper  historical  setting  to 
their  fast  and  thanksgiving  days. 

On  Monday  morning,  the  21st  of  June,  1675,  at 
the  break  of  day,  a  messenger  arrived  at  the  house  of 
Governor  Josiah  Winslow,  at  Marshfield,  bringing  the 
tidings  that  the  Indians  had  assaulted  two  houses  at 
Swansey  the  day  before,  and  driven  out  the  inmates. 
The  governor  ordered  soldiers  to  their  relief,  but  also 
dispatched  a  messenger  to  Boston  to  advise  Governor 
Leverett.  In  the  archives  of  Massachusetts,  the  let- 
ter that  messenger  bore,  by  the  swiftest  horse,  is  pre- 
served, —  yellow  now  with  age,  but  stiU  showing  the 
soiled  evidence  of  its  carriage  that  day.^  About  four 
o'clock  that  afternoon  this  unknown  rider  drew  up  in 
front  of  the  governor's  house,  which  stood  near  the 

dated  October  11,  1675.  October  11  was  the  day  the  Court  met,  and 
1075  for  1676  is  a  misprint.  We  follow  the  Records  which  differ 
slightly  from  the  broadside.  See  N.  E.  Reg.,  ii.  201 ;  Mass.  Col.  Rec, 
V.  130 ;  lY.  Hamp.  Col.  Rec,  i.  361. 

^  This  interesting  letter,  never  in  print,  has  the  answer  on  the  same 
sheet.     State  Archives :  War,  vol.  Ixvii.  202. 


194        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

Old  Meeting-House  at  the  head  of  State  Street.  The 
council  was  convened  forthwith,  and  a  message  prom- 
ising assistance  returned.  Drums  sounded  the  call  to 
arms  in  the  streets,  and  the  excitement  of  gathering 
volunteers  was  everywhere.  The  Ancient  and  Hojior- 
able  Artillery  had  been  addressed  on  the  10th  of  that 
month  by  Rev.  John  Richardson  of  Newbury,  on  "  The 
Necessity  of  a  well  Experienced  Souldiery ;  "  and  the 
preacher  had  said,  "  Thou  knowest  not  how  soon  orders 
may  come  from  the  Lord  of  Hosts  for  thy  sudden 
March ;  and  then  there  will  be  no  time  to  get  any  skill 
to  defend  thyself.  You  are  now,  as  it  were,  in  Garri- 
son, but  you  may  very  quickly  be  in  the  field,  not  in 
a  naked  field,  but  in  a  field  of  war,  yea,  perhaps  in 
Aceldema,  a  field  of  blood."  And  now  the  words  of 
the  prophet  were  about  to  come  to  pass. 

In  the  mean  time,  though  making  all  preparations 
for  defense,  the  governor  and  council  of  both  colonies 
issued  orders  for  fast  days,  that  of  Plymouth  being 
June  24 1  and  that  of  Massachusetts  June  29.^  On 
the  very  day  of  that  Plymouth  fast,  as  the  people 
were  returning  from  church,  they  were  attacked  by 
the  Indians,  and  ere  the  day  ended,  nine  English  had 
been  slain.  Reflecting  upon  this  sad  fact  Rev.  In- 
crease Mather  says,  "  The  Providence  of  God  is  deeply 
to  be  observed,  that  the  sword  should  be  first  drawn 
upon  a  day  of  Humiliation,  the  Lord  thereby  declar- 

1  MS.  Cotton  Papers,  Boston  Public  Library,  vi.  24 ;  Baylies'  Hist. 
Mem.  of  New  Plymouth,  v.  47,  48. 

^  This  was  three  days  after  the  departure  of  troops.  We  know 
of  no  copy  of  the  proclamation  in  manuscript  or  print.  Dor.  chh. 
rec,  p.  69 ;  Mather's  Hist,  of  King  Philip's  War,  repr.  1862,  p.  56 ; 
Salem  chh.  rec,  in  White's  JV.  E.  Congregationalism,  p.  82 ;  Hull's 
Diary. 


JACOB'S   TROUBLE  IN  THE  WILDERNESS.   195 

ing  from  Heaven  that  he  expected  something  else  from 
his  people  besides  Fasting  and  Prayer."  ^ 

The  war  thus  begun  had  not  been  unannounced,  it 
was  believed,  by  ominous  signs.  A  great  gun  had 
been  heard  to  go  off,  as  if  the  Devil  were  letting  off 
the  ordnance  of  heaven ;  and  volleys  of  musket-shots, 
as  of  a  battle  in  the  air,  had  startled  them.  Bullets 
whistled  overhead,  and  troopers  were  heard  riding  to 
and  fro,  as  of  an  invisible  army  on  the  march.^  On 
the  nio:ht  when  the  soldiers  of  Boston  came  to  their 
first  encampment  on  the  Neponset  River,  a  shadow 
crept  over  the  moon,  and  dismal  fancies  curdled  their 
blood  as  they  thought  they  saw  on  the  face  of  the 
eclipsed  moon  a  dark  spot  like  an  Indian  scalp,  though 
it  is  related  that  one  of  their  number  comforted  them 
with  the  classic  witticism  that  "  there  was  more  cause 
to  be  afraid  of  Sagittarius  than  of  Capricornus."  ^ 

Amid  all  the  troubles  of  that  summer  and  autumn, 
disastrous  especially  to  the  western  plantations,  the 
churches  observed  continual  fastings.  It  was  re- 
marked too,  with  sorrow,  that  their  power  thus  to  turn 
back  the  tide  of  disaster  had  departed  from  them. 
Defeats  seemed  to  cluster  about  those  days.  When 
Mendon  was  assaulted,  July  14,  and  the  first  blood  was 
shed  in  Massachusetts,  the  church  in  Dorchester  was 
fasting,  "  wherein,"  says  Mather,  "  the  Providence  of 
God  is  the  more  awful  &>  tremendous."  ^  The  news 
came  to  Boston  the  next  day  at  lecture  time,  whije 

1  Mather's  Hisl.^  p.  55. 

2  Magnalia,  ii.  560 ;     Hubbard's  Indian  Wars,  repr.  1865,  ii.  262  ; 
Mather's  Hist,  pp.  158,  159. 

2  Hubbard's  Indian  Wars,  pp.  67,  68  ;  Mather's  Hist.,  p.  57  ;  Mag^ 
nalia,  ii.  561. 
*  Mather's  Hist.,  pp.  62-64. 


196         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

that  divine  was  expounding  the  Scripture,  "Who 
gave  Jacob  to  the  spoil  and  Israel  to  the  robbers? 
did  not  the  Lord,  he  against  whom  ye  have  sinned  ?  " 
Alas !  it  was  but  too  evident  that  the  chastisement 
was  from  Him.  On  the  5th  of  August,  as  the  First 
Church  at  Boston  was  keeping  a  fast,  the  news  came 
of  Captain  Hutchinson's  defeat  at  Quaboag,  which 
appeared  so  striking  that  another  fast  was  kept  on  the 
Wednesday  following  in  the  Second  Church.^  This 
was  Dr.  Mather's,  and  the  one  tiling  we  know  about 
that  service  is,  that  he  made  his  boast  in  the  Lord's  spar- 
ing the  churches,  showing  the  benefit  of  communion 
with  God  ;  but  it  was  not  long  afterward  that  he  had 
occasion  to  add,  like  a  disappointed  prophet,  "  Now  he 
begins  with  the  Sanctuary,"  —  a  remark  provoked  by 
the  destruction  of  the  Springfield  church.  When  Deer- 
field  was  burned,  this  author  notes  that  on  that  day 
"  Hadley  was  before  the  Lord  in  fasting  and  prayer, 
but  were  driven  from  the  Holy  Service  they  were  attend- 
ing by  a  most  sudden  and  violent  Alarm."  His  own 
church  was  similarly  engaged,  which  "  added  solemnity 
and  awfulness  to  that  desolation."  *^  But  notwithstand- 
ing such  ill  success  they  multiplied  their  fast  days.  In 
August  the  council  at  Hartford  ordered  a  "  course  of 
seekeing  the  Lord  by  Humiliation,  Prayer  &  soule 
affliction  "  by  weekly  fasts,  each  county  in  turn  on 
succeeding  Wednesdays.^     Plymouth  Colony  had   a 

1  Drake's  Old  Indian  Chronicle,  pp.  147,  148.  Wednesday  was  the 
11th,  and  not  the  12th,  as  in  the  Chronicle. 

2  Mather's  Hist.,  p.  72. 

3  Conn.  Col.  Bee,  ii.  355 ;  cf .  ii.  467,  469.  The  order  was :  New  Ha- 
ven County,  September  1 ;  Fairfield,  September  8 ;  New  London, 
September  15  ;  Hartford,  September  22.  These  were  interrupted  by 
the  thanksgiving,  February   23,  1675-6.     Each   county   kept  about 


JACOB'S   TROUBLE  IN   THE  WILDERNESS.  197 

public  fast  October  14 ;  and  the  governor  and  council 
of  the  Bay  Colony  also  issued  a  proclamation  appoint- 
ing October  7.^  This  order,  which  was  undoubtedly 
written  by  Increase  Mather  himself,  and  complained 
that  the  Lord  was  "  shewing  himself  angry  with  the 
Prayers  of  his  People,"  was  sent  over  seas  by  a  mer- 
chant of  Boston,  with  the  comment  that  the  day  was 
observed  "  with  very  gTcat  show  of  outward  penitence 
&  (no  Question)  with  much  inward  affection  by  very 
many,  the  Governor  himself  beginning  the  Duty  of 
the  Day  with  a  most  heavenly  prayer."  '^  But  Mather 
does  not  record  very  happy  results,  for  he  says  it  was 
''  attended  with  awfull  testimonyes  of  divine  dis- 
pleasure," referring  to  the  fact  that,  the  day  after  it 
was  agi'eed  upon.  Captain  Lothrop  and  "the  flower  of 
Essex  County  "  met  their  terrible  deaths.  The  deduc- 
tion he  made  was,  that  "  praying  without  reforming 
would  not  do,"  —  a  logic  to  which  he  adds  interest  by 
remarking,  when  his  own  church  afterwards  had  a 
fast,  "  After  which  we  have  not  received  such  sad  tid- 
ings as  usually  such  dayes  have  been  attended  with 
since  the  warr  began."  However,  he  came  out  tri- 
imaphantly  at  last,  in  his  discourse  on  the  "  Prevalency 

twelve  fasts  during  the  year.  They  were  discontinued  by  the  coun- 
cil vote  of  August  19,  1676,  and  the  30th  of  August  was  made  a 
public  thanksgiving,  but  a  previous  vote  of  July  21  had  changed 
the  last  course  into  "  like  solemn  dayes  of  Thanksgiving."  Miner's 
Diary  (Hon.  R.  A.  Wheeler,  Stonington,  Conn.)  says  that  August  16 
and  23,  as  well  as  the  30th,  were  public  thanksgivings  throughout 
the  whole  colony.  They  probably  were  voluntarily  so  on  account  of 
King  Philip's  death. 

^  Mather  printed  this  proclamation  in  his  History  of  King  Philip^s 
War^  pp.  93,  94 ;  and  perhaps  he  corrected  from  his  draft  some  slight 
errors  and  misprints  which  appear  in  it  as  printed  in  The  Present 
State  of  New  England,  etc. ;  Old  Indian  Chronicle,  pp.  161-163. 

2  Old  Indian  Chronicle,  p.  161. 


198        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

of  Prayer,"  by  making  such  experiences  a  trial  of 
faith  to  some,  and  a  rebuke  of  formality  in  prayer  to 
others. 

Soon  after  the  inception  of  the  reforming  movement 
discussed  in  the  next  chapter,  the  Commissioners  of 
the  United  Colonies  met  at  Boston.  It  was  Novem- 
ber 2.  They  determined  upon  a  winter  campaign 
against  the  Narragansetts,  and  also  recommended  that 
all  the  colonies  observe  a  fast  on  the  2d  of  December 
for  the  success  of  the  expedition.^  This  was  done, 
and  it  was  because  this  general  humihation  was  pend- 
ing that  the  autumn  thanksgiving,  which  had  become 
usual,  was  that  year  altogether  omitted  in  Massachu- 
setts, and  probably  in  Plymouth.  In  Connecticut  it 
was  put  off  to  the  23d  of  February  following,  and 
then  the  day  was  largely  for  success  against  the  Nar- 
ragansetts, though  the  proclamation  shows  that  it  was 
intended  to  cover  the  vicissitudes  of  the  past  year.^ 
In  his  "  History  of  King  Philip's  War  "  Mather  ex- 
plicitly says  that  June  29,  167^,  the  anniversary  of 
the  first  fast  day,  was  the  first  public  thanksgiving 
which  had  been  kept  in  the  Bay  Colony  since  the 
war  began.3  There  might  have  been,  however,  here 
and  there,  church  thanksgivings.  In  one  instance 
there  certainly  was.  At  Concord,  on  the  21st  of 
October,  several  persons,  who  had  been  delivered  in  a 
wonderful  manner  when  the  attack  was  made  on 
Brookfield,  celebrated  a  thanksgiving  therefor,  and  on 
that  day  Rev.  Edward  Bulkley,  preached  to  them  a 

^  The  commissioners  left  the  several  colonies  to  issue  their  procla^ 
mations.  It  was  only  a  recommendation  on  their  part.  Probably  a 
brief  order  was  all  any  of  them  sent  out.  —  Conn.  Col.  Bee,  ii.  383. 

2  Conn.  Col  Bee.,  ii.  408.  3  Mather's  Hist.,  p.  167. 


JACOB'S   TROUBLE  IN  THE  WILDERNESS.  199 

sermon,  which  is  in  print,  with  the  recital  of  the  deliv- 
erance, though  of  the  very  greatest  rarity.^  It  is  not 
strange  that  they  so  omitted  thanksgivings.  The  times 
were  dark;  they  feared  that  the  plantations  might 
be  swept  away.  Judge  Sewall  expressed  the  general 
feeling  when  he  wrote  of  November  11  that  year  : 
"  The  wether  exceedingly  benign  but  (to  me)  meta- 
phoric,  dismal,  dark  &  portentous,  some  prodigie  ap- 
pearing in  every  corner  of  the  skies."  2  It  was  under 
such  depression  that  they  kept  the  commissioners, 
fast ;  and,  in  the  depth  of  an  exceptionally  cold  and 
snowy  winter,  the  troops  set  out  for  the  Narragansett 
fort  to  accomplish  the  destruction  of  then*  enemies. 
Rev.  Simon  Bradstreet,  of  New  London,  expressed  the 
hope  that  "  ye  fight  at  ye  swamp  would  be  left  to  Pos- 
terity ; "  and,  it  has  been,  to  some  for  condemnation, 
and  to  others  for  praise. 

When  the  spring  opened,  the  Indians  were  abroad 
with  vengeance,  and  the  dark  cloud  which  had  rested 
over  the  river  plantations  of  Massachusetts  moved 
eastward.  Several  towns  were  destroyed.  Still  they 
kept  on  with  their  fasts,  renewing  their  covenant  with 
God,  and  doing  what  they  could  toward  a  reformation 
of  morals.  But  the  tide  of  war  had  already  begun 
to  turn,  and  in  the  month  of  June  it  became  evident 
that  the  victory  was  theirs.  At  last  they  had  pre- 
vailed with  God !  Connecticut  had  already  antici- 
pated a  thanksgiving,  and  was  getting  ready  to  turn 
its  course  of   fasts    into    the   same.      The   governor 

1  See  Biblio^aphy,  No.  10.  This  sermon  has  never  been  g-iven  a 
date,  that  we  are  aware  of,  but  in  the  preface  it  is  said  of  Edward 
Bulkley :  "  He  did  joyne  with  us  therein  on  October  21,  75." 

2  Sewairs  Diary,  i.  11. 


200        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

and  magistrates  of  Massachusetts,  it  seems,  were  in- 
clined to  the  Uke  action,  but  the  ministers  were  still 
for  fasting.  Increase  Mather  and  James  Allen  had 
moved  the  General  Court,  requesting  them  to  set  such 
a  fast  day,  but  they  would  not,  neither  would  the 
council  when  the  elders  urged  them  to  it.^  On  the 
contrary,  the  council  determined  to  have  a  thanks- 
giving, and  on  the  20  th  of  June  they  appointed  one  for 
the  29th.  A  copy  of  the  broadside  is  extant  in  the 
library  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  being 
the  earliest  thanksgiving  broadside  known.  Thus  the 
spell  of  fasting  was  broken,  and  it  was  remarked  by 
many  that  "  from  the  Time  of  the  Resolve  upon  it, 
ever  since,  we  have  experienced  little  else  than  re- 
newed Mercies  and  Smiles  of  Providence." 

We  have  an  interesting  episode  of  family  history 
in  connection  with  that  day.  When  the  Indians  fell 
upon  Lancaster,  they  carried  away  captive  the  wife 
of  the  minister.  Rev.  Joseph  Rowlandson,  and  her 
children.  The  "  Narrative  of  the  Captivity,  Suffer- 
ings, and  Removes  "  has  come  down  to  us  from  her  own 
hand.  Her  infant  child  died  on  the  march  through 
the  wilderness,  and  her  son  and  daughter  were  sepa- 
rated from  her.  The  ladies  of  the  South  Church 
in  Boston  raised  the  funds  for  her  ransom,  which  was 
finally  effected,  and  she  reached  Concord  on  the  3d 
of  May,  the  day  on  which  Rev.  William  Hubbard 
preached  his  four-hour  election  sermon.  The  day 
before  the  thanksgiving,  as  Mr.  Rowlandson  and  his 
wife  were  sorrowfully  journeying  toward  Newbury, 
they  received  the  news  that  their  son  had  come  in  at 
Portsmouth.  Prepared  thus  for  a  joyful  service,  that 
1  Rox.  chh.  rec,  N.  E.  Beg.,  xxxiii.  298. 


^ 

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.52  X3 


5^ 


>^  w*^    >    *<•    o  ••*    »-» 

4u    v»  O    T  Ti 


N^ 


ox:  3  *^^^  o 
■^  y  !^  o  ^  cw  }^  v^ 
^v2  ^  w  C  o  Ci,^ 

t*  o  a  ."  tji>       o 
cu^  Jo  -ci  r'^a  •»;  -- . 


5-^ 


JACOB'S   TROUBLE  IN  THE  WILDERNESS,   201 

worthy  minister  preached  next  day  in  the  meeting- 
house to  a  deeply  affected  congregation ;  and  it  was 
after  he  had  done,  and  possibly  as  they  were  about  to 
sit  down  to  some  frugal  thanksgiving  feast,  that  a 
messenger  arrived,  having  ridden  with  all  speed  from 
Boston,  bringing  the  news  that  his  daughter  also  was 
safe  among  the  good  people  of  Providence.  So  were 
their  hearts  at  last  made  glad. 

Concerning  the  thanksgiving  in  Connecticut,  Au- 
gust 30,  we  have  only  this  fact  to  mention,  that  it 
was  the  conclusion  of  a  long  series  of  fast  days,  the 
most  extended  in  their  colonial  history.^ 

But  the  thanksgiving  at  Plymouth,  August  17, 
affords  details  of  greatest  interest.  Later  writers 
have  put  upon  those  descendants  of  the  Pilgrims  the 
imputation  that  their  thanksgiving  was  appointed  on 
account  of  the  death  of  King  Philip.^  This  is  un- 
true. The  original  liistorians  record  the  fact  that  it 
was  appointed  before  they  had  heard  of  Philip's  fate, 
August  12,  at  the  hands  of  Captain  Benjamin  Church. 
Hubbard's  record  is  as  follows :  "  This  was  done  the 
12th  day  of  August,  1676,  a  remarkable  testimony 
of  divine  favor  to  the  Colony  of  Plimouth,  who  had 
for  the  former  successes  appointed  the  17th  day  of 
August  following  to  be  kept  as  a  day  of  solem 
thanksgiving  to  Almighty  God."  ^  Increase  Mather 
says :  "  A  little  before  this,  the  Authority  in  that 
Colony  had  appointed  the  seventeenth  of  this  instant 

^  See  page  196,  note  3. 

2  Drake's  Hist,  and  Antiq.  of  Boston,  p.  428,  says :  "  Such  was  the 
joy  caused  by  the  news  of  Philip's  death  that  in  five  days  after,  it 
was  celebrated  by  a  thanksgiving"."  In  his  edition  of  Churches  His- 
tory, i.  45,  Dr.  H.  M.  Dexter  questioned  this  fact. 

3  Hubbard's  Indian  Wars,  i.  267,  268. 


202        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

to  be  observed  as  a  day  of  pubKck  Thanksgiving 
throughout  that  Jurisdiction  on  account  of  wonderfid 
success  against  the  Enemy,  which  the  Lord  hath 
blessed  them  with  ever  since  they  renewed  their  Cove- 
nant with  him ;  and  so  they  might  have  hearts  raised 
and  enlarged  in  ascribing  praises  to  God,  he  delivered 
Philip  into  their  hands  a  few  dayes  before  their  in- 
tended Thanksgiving."  ^  The  day  was  then  set  apart 
"  a  little  before  this,"  and  on  account  of  "  former 
successes."  Bat  the  manuscript  records  of  the  Ply- 
mouth church  settle  the  question  by  saying  that  the 
"  Governor  and  Magistrates  the  week  before  his 
death  sent  an  order  to  all  our  ches  to  keep  August  12 
[17]  as  a  day  of  publick  Thanksgiving."  August  12 
was  Saturday,  and  the  thanksgiving  the  Thursday 
following.  Captain  Church  and  his  company  went 
the  next  day  after  Philip's  death  to  Rhode  Island,  and 
on  Tuesday  started  through  the  woods  for  Plymouth. 
With  joyful  hearts  did  the  people  of  Plymouth 
come  forth  from  their  homes  that  thanksgiving  morn- 
ing at  the  call  to  worship,  fathers  and  mothers  and 
children  wending  their  way  up  the  path  to  the  sum- 
mit of  Burial  Hill,  where  their  heavy-timbered  fort 
stood,  on  its  flat  roof  the  sentinel,  watching  as  he 
paced  to  and  fro,  and  the  cannon  —  a  fitting  symbol 
of  their  holy  warfare  —  peering  angrily  through  the 
battlements,  for  there  in  the  lower  part  was  their 
meeting-house.  They  carried  swords  and  muskets  as 
well  as  Ainsworth  Psalm-books.  It  was  a  striking 
assembly,  the  men  on  one  side  of  the  house  and  the 
women  on  the  other,  —  serious  and  solemn,  all  of 
them.     The  minister  was  the  Rev.  John  Cotton,  son 

^  Mather's  Hist.,  pp.  196,  197, 


JACOB'S   TROUBLE  IN  THE  WILDERNESS.  203 

of  a  noble  father.  He  began  the  service  with  a 
prayer,  and  no  one  can  doubt  that  it  was  "un- 
stinted" that  day.  What  scriptures  he  might  have 
read  of  ancient  wars  and  victories  !  What  a  chance 
was  theirs  in  that  congregation,  when  the  psahn  was 
announced,  for  the  nasal  exercise  of  quavers  and 
semi-quavers  !     Was  it  the  tenth  ? 

"  Jehovah  King,  for  ever  is 

and  to  continual  aye : 
Out  of  his  land  the  Heathen-men 
are  perished  away." 

The  minister  doubtless  had  special  unction  in  his 
discourse,  or,  if  he  lacked  in  that,  he  made  it  up  in 
length,  and  they  were  indeed,  and  perhaps  in  more 
than  one  sense,  a  thankful  people  upon  whom  he  pro- 
nounced the  benediction.  Was  it  just  then  that  the 
signal  was  given  by  the  sentry  annoimcing  the  ap- 
proach of  soldiers  towards  the  town  ?  That  very  day, 
at  all  events,  —  and  the  manuscript  church  records 
say  "  soone  after  the  publick  worship  was  ended,"  — 
the  company  of  Church  came  to  Plymouth,  and  with 
them  they  bore  the  head  of  King  Philip.  "  So,"  says 
the  minister  Cotton,  "  in  the  day  of  our  praises  our 
eyes  saw  the  Salvation  of  God."  Thus,  says  the  pro- 
digy-loving historian  of  those  days,  "  did  God  break 
the  head  of  that  Leviathan,  and  gave  it  to  be  meat 
to  the  people  inhabiting  the  wilderness."  And  there 
on  the  casement  of  their  fort  it  whitened  for  many  a 
day,  until  a  curiosity-loving  divine  of  Boston  took  the 
jaw  home  for  his  collection. 

So  the  days  of  autumn  came  on.  The  sounds  of 
war  rolled  northward  like  dying  thunder ;  the  harvests, 
saved  from  a  drought,  were  gathered  in  abimdance ; 


204         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

the  infection  of  sickness  liad  ceased ;  and  they  had 
promise  that  ship-loads  of  provisions  and  clothing 
would  soon  follow  the  prayers  of  more  than  one  fast 
day  in  Old  England  and  Ireland.  This  is  how  it 
was  that,  when  the  time  for  their  autumn  festival  was 
fully  ripe,  they  turned  gratefully  from  the  blackened 
ruins  of  their  former  homes  and  the  newly  made 
graves  of  their  heroes,  and,  remembering  the  year 
which  knew  no  such  festival,  again  sought  the  sanctu- 
ary to  sing  praises  unto  Him  who  had  delivered  Jacob 
from  his  trouble  in  the  wilderness. 

"  Sleep,  soldiers  of  merit,  sleep,  gallants  of  yore, 
The  hatchet  is  fallen,  the  struggle  is  o'er ; 
While  the  fir-tree  is  green  and  the  wind  rolls  a  wave, 
The  teardrop  shall  brighten  the  turf  of  the  brave." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  REFORMATION   FASTS. 

1675-1680. 

The  movement  for  the  reformation  of  the  New 
England  churches  arose  out  of  the  belief  that  the 
calamities  of  King  Philip's  War  were  the  climax  of 
divine  punishment  upon  a  backslidden  Israel.  The 
ministers  at  once  began  to  testify  against  a  multitude 
of  provoking  sins,  and  the  civil  authorities  to  enact 
laws  to  restrain  and  pimish  the  transgressors. 

On  the  13th  of  October,  1675,  when  the  Gen- 
eral Court  of  Massachusetts  met  at  Boston,  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed,  says  Increase  Mather,  "  in  order 
to  a  reformation  of  those  evils  which  have  provoked 
the  Lord  to  bring  the  sword  upon  us."  ^  This  com- 
mittee called  upon  the  teaching  elders  of  the  churches 
for  advice  and  help,  and  beyond  doubt  the  leading 
mind  in  their  counsels  was  Increase  Mather  himself, 
then  the  most  influential  minister  in  the  colony,  and  to 
whom,  more  than  any  other,  the  progress  of  the  reform- 
ing movement  is  due.  This  same  court  passed  certain 
ordinances  aimed  to  prevent  profanity,  dnmkenness, 
gambling,  etc.,  in  the  army  ;  ^  and  these  were  approved 
by  the  council  at  Hartford  on  the  10th  of  January 
following.^  The  committee  made  their  return  to  the 
court  on  the  19th  of  October;  and  though  it  is  rarely 

1  Mather's  Hist,  of  King  Philip's  War,  p.  98. 

2  Mass.  Col.  Rec,  v.  49,  50.  »  Conn.  Cd.  Bee.,  ii.  392-394. 


206        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

met  with,  and  has  never  assumed  its  proper  impor- 
tance  in  ecclesiastical  history,  it  was  the  basis  of  the 
laws  subsequently  enacted  in  the  several  colonies  for 
reformation.  It  was  largely  the  work  of  Increase 
Mather,  and  probably  from  his  own  pen.  From  his 
own  draft  he  seems  to  have  printed  it  in  his  "  History 
of  King  Philip's  War."  ^  Having  been  favorably  re- 
ceived by  the  court,  another  committee  was  appointed 
to  frame  laws  in  accordance  with  its  recommendations. 
These  were  passed  on  the  3d  of  November,  and  are 
to  be  found  in  the  Colonial  Records.^  Thus  was 
begun  the  New  England  reformation,  which  had  been 
brewing  in  the  minds  of  the  ministers  for  many 
years.^  A  deep  impression  was  made  at  once  upon 
the  religious  life  of  the  people.  The  laws,  which 
were  well  understood  to  be  but  an  expansion  of  an 
ecclesiastical  utterance,  became  the  creed  of  the  re- 
formers. Ministers  quoted  them  in  their  discourses, 
and  to  an  extent  they  revived  prosecutions  in  the 
courts.  No  doubt  they  did  good  by  awakening  the 
people  to  observe  the  Sabbath,  to  restrain  intemper- 
ance, and  train  the  children  in  morals  and  religion. 
Edward  Randolph,  in  his  report  to  the  Coimcil  of 
Trade,*  taking  a  more  reasonable  view  of  the  causes  of 
the  Indian  War,  nevertheless  refers  to  these  laws,  and 
intimates  that  the  trouble  was  generally  ascribed  to 
these  provoking  evils. 

1  Mather's  Hist.,  pp.  98-100. 

2  Mass.  Col.  Bee,  v.  5&-64. 

^  See,  especially,  Increase  Mather's  fast  sermon,  Fehruary  11, 
1673-4,  and  Samuel  Willard's,  June  16,  1670,  and  June  13,  1672.  In 
the  latter,  Willard  says :  "  Many  dayes  of  Humiliation  have  been  kept 

.  .  to  no  purpose." 

*  Documents  Relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  New  York,  iii.  241, 
242;  N.  Hamp.  CoL  Mec,  i.  342,  343. 


THE  REFORMATION  FASTS.  207 

In  Connecticut  the  General  Court  of  May,  1676, 
enacted  laws  similar  to  those  of  Massachusetts,  with 
the  prominent  omission  of  those  against  the  Quakers, 
and  wearing  "  long  haire  "  by  men,  and  "  borders  of 
hajre  "  by  women.^  Meanwhile,  however,  the  refor- 
mation had  taken  on  an  ecclesiastical  form  in  that 
colony,  with  which  we  have  particularly  to  do,  namely, 
the  keeping  of  fast  days  for  the  "  renewal  of  covenant " 
as  a  means  of  reforming,  —  a  custom  which  spread 
throughout  the  churches  of  New  England.  The  Coun- 
cil of  Connecticut  had  before  it,  on  the  7th  of  March 
previous,  certain  "  collections  drawn  up  by  the  minis- 
ters." These,  which  have  not  survived  in  the  state 
archives,  were  probably  articles  setting  forth  the 
evils  needing  reformation,  and,  accompanied  by  an 
order  for  a  fast  day  March  22,  were  sent  out  to  the 
churches.2  Rev.  James  Fitch,  of  Norwich,  in  a  letter 
to  the  council  dated  March  13,  rejoicing  that  the 
Lord  had  moved  them  to  such  a  seasonable  work, 
said :  "  We  intend,  God  willing,  to  take  that  very 
daye,  solemnly  to  renew  our  covenant  in  our  church 
state,  according  to  the  example  in  Ezra's  time,  &  as 
was  sometimes  practised  in  Hartford  congregation  by 
Mr.  Stone,  not  long  after  Mr.  Hooker's  death.  If 
other  churches  doe  not  see  cause  to  doe  the  same,  yet 
wee  hope  it  will  not  bee  offensive ;  but  doe  verily  con- 
clude if  y'  be  rule  for  y*  practise,  this  is  a  time  wherein 
the  Providence  of  God  does  in  a  knocking  &  terrible 
maner  call  for  it."  ^  It  appears,  then,  that  this  had 
been  a  custom  in  the  Hartford  church.  Possibly  it 
had  been  practiced  in  other  churches,  as  at  Salem  in 

1  Conn.  Col.  Bee,  ii.  280-283.  2  75^^.^  jj.  296,  297,  414. 

«  Ibid.,  ii.  417  n. 


208         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

1663,  but  we  find  no  evidence  of  it  earlier  than  this, 
and  it  certainly  had  never  been  general  hitherto.  In 
the  prefatory  address  to  Increase  Mather's  fast  ser- 
mon, "  Returning  unto  God  etc,"  preached  March 
17,  1679-80,  he  refers  to  the  custom,  and  seems  to 
admit  that  it  was  a  "  new  practice,"  as  some  had 
charged,  and  justifies  it  on  the  ground  that  it  ought 
to  have  been  done  long  ago.  He  also  notes  the  objec- 
tions to  it  in  connection  with  his  sermon  of  March 
21,  1676-7.  That  the  example  of  Mr.  Fitch  had  a 
wide  influence,  and  was  taken  up  by  Mather,  may  be 
inferred  from  Cotton  Mather's  testimonial  to  him 
in  the  "  Magnalia,"  in  which  he  also  commends  the  ser- 
mon preached  at  Norwich  on  that  fast  day,  afterwards 
published  with  the  title,  "  An  Explanation  of  the  Sol- 
emn Advice  Recommended  by  the  Council  in  Con- 
necticut Colony,"  etc.^  For  more  than  thirty  years 
the  practice  was  continued  annually  in  the  Norwich 
church,  and  within  a  few  months  after  its  first  obser- 
vance the  churches  in  Massachusetts,  Plymouth,  and 
Connecticut  were  doing  the  same. 

The  exercises  on  these  days  were  peculiar.  An  im- 
portant feature  was  the  public  recognition  of  the 
youth  as  children  of  the  covenant.  Parents  undoubt- 
edly had  been  remiss  in  family  training  and  the  church 
in  catechetical  instruction.  This  was  a  revival  of 
religious  instruction  in  the  churches.  Ministers  began 
to  put  the  catechisms  to  a  systematic  use.  Lists  of 
the  youth  were  made  in  the  parishes,  who  were  statedly 
subjected  to  an  examination  by  the  minister,  —  a  cus- 
tom which  continued  until  the  early  part  of  the  present 
century,  and  in  the  absence  of  Sunday-schools  accom- 
^  Magnolia,  ii.  334.     See  Bibliography,  No.  11. 


THE  REFORMATION  FASTS.  209 

pUshed  much  good.  Those  to  be  catechized  in  Dor- 
chester in  1676  were  from  seven  to  thirty-one  years 
of  age.^  Upon  the  day  of  renewing  the  covenant 
such  of  them  as  woidd,  publicly  acknowledged  the 
government  of  the  church,  having  been  first  addressed 
by  the  pastor  and  the  elder.  It  was  a  kind  of  half- 
way covenant,  —  a  pledge  to  lead  righteous  lives, 
though  not  as  yet  admitted  to  the  Lord's  table.  And 
it  was  the  children's  part  in  this  fast-day  service,  and 
the  utility  of  such  a  covenant,  which  perpetuated  these 
covenant  days  for  so  many  years. 

We  return  to  the  chronological  order  of  events.  On 
the  9th  of  May,  1676,  the  General  Court  of  the  Bay 
Colony  kept  a  fast  day  in  the  Town  House  at  Boston. 
The  ministers  of  the  colony  were  in  attendance.  We 
believe  that  on  this  occasion  Increase  Mather  delivered 
his  address  entitled  "  An  Earnest  Exhortation  to  the 
Inhabitants  of  New  England,"  etc.,  and  to  this  conclu- 
sion we  are  led  by  the  fitness  of  the  discourse  for  the 
circumstances,  as  well  as  the  fact  that  he  says  it  was 
written  two  or  three  months  before  the  date  of  the 
preface,  which  was  July  26.  In  this  he  not  only 
gives  a  general  review  of  the  calamities  of  the  war,  but 
he  urges  the  covenant  feature  as  the  most  commend- 
able means  for  furthering  the  reformation  movement.^ 
He  ever  attached  particular  importance  to  it  as  appeas- 
ing the  divine  wrath,  and,  besides   some  special  testi- 

1  Dor.  chh.  rec,  pp.  72-74,  183-185. 

2  This  was  a  prominent  head  in  his  discourse :  *'  Solemn  Renewal 
of  Covenant  with  God  in  Jesus  Christ  is  a  ^reat  Scripture  expedient 
in  order  to  Reformation."  He  advises  the  churches  to  attend  to  it 
with  seriousness  and  sincerity,  and  the  court  to  recommend  it  to  them, 
though  not  impose  it,  lest  it  meet  with  opposition  in  some  places.  The 
whole  exhortation  shows  that  it  was  an  address  to  magistrates  and 
representatives  of  the  churches.    See  Bibliography,  No.  12. 


210        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

monials  of  favor  which  he  connects  with  this  day,  he 
says  of  it :  "  There  are  [those]  who  have  dated  the 
turn  of  Providence  towards  us  in  this  Colony,  and 
against  the  Enemy,  in  a  wonderful  manner,  from  this 
day  forward."  ^  But  there  is  more  evidence  in  the 
same  line.  The  Plymouth  church  records  inform  us 
—  though  there  is  no  mention  whatever  of  it  in  the 
Colonial  Records  —  that  the  General  Court  of  that 
colony  which  met  in  June,  being  sensible  of  the  heavy 
hand  of  God  upon  them,  appointed  the  22d  of  June  as 
a  fast,  and  "  added  thereto  a  solemn  motion  to  all  the 
churches  to  renew  a  Covenant  engagement  to  God  for 
Eeformation  of  all  provoking  evills."  Here,  then,  just 
three  months  after  the  renewal  of  covenant  by  Fitch, 
we  find  the  court  at  Plymouth  recommending  the 
same  to  the  churches  within  that  jurisdiction,  as 
Mather  wanted  the  Massachusetts  court  to  do.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  their  appointed  day  was  just 
one  week  before  the  thanksgiving  already  mentioned 
in  Massachusetts,  June  29,  1676  ;  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  main  reason  why  Increase  Mather, 
James  Allen,  and  some  others  of  the  ministers  wanted 
a  fast  at  that  time,  and  asked  the  court  to  appoint 
one,  was  for  a  similar  move  toward  the  renewal  of 
covenant  in  the  Bay  Colony.  As  already  recorded,  the 
court  refused,  and  so  did  the  council.  Did  any  of 
the  Massachusetts  churches  keep  such  a  day  notwith- 
standing ?  Yes,  one,  and  that  Mather's  own  church, 
the  Second  of  Boston  ;  they  kept  June  21.  Eliot 
intimates  that  this  was  the  outcome  of  the  refusal  of 
the  court  and  council;  and  Mather  also  recognizes 
the  affinity  between  the  fast  in  his  church  and  the 
1  Mather's  Hist.,  pp.  144, 145. 


THE  REFORMATION  FASTS,  211 

public  fast  in  Plymouth  when  he  says :  "  June  21  was 
kept  as  a  day  of  solemn  Humiliation  in  one  of  the 
Churches  in  Boston,  so  was  the  next  day  in  all  the 
Churches  throughout  the  Colony  of  PHmouth.  After 
which  we  have  not  received  such  sad  tidings,  as  usually 
such  dayes  have  been  attended  with  ever  since  the 
Warr  began."  ^  Elsewhere  he  refers  to  this  action  of 
the  Plymouth  court,  and  associates  with  it  the  turn 
of  Providence  in  Plymouth  Colony,  making  special 
note  of  this  feature,  that  they  did  solenmly  renew  their 
Covenant  with  God  and  one  another^  and  putting 
those  words  in  italics.^  Many  churches  there  renewed 
covenant  Jime  22.  The  Plymouth  church,  at  the 
close  of  their  fast-day  exercises,  appointed  a  day  for 
that  purpose,  which  was  the  18tli  of  July,  and  their 
records  furnish  further  information  as  to  the  covenant 
acknowledged.  We  conclude,  therefore,  that  Mather 
and  some  of  his  brethren  of  Massachusetts  adopted 
the  idea  which  James  Fitch  had  taken  from  an  earlier 
example  in  the  Hartford  church  under  Samuel  Stone, 
that  they  were  the  influential  cause  of  the  action  in 
Plymouth  Colony,  and  that  they  failed  of  the  same  in 
Massachusetts  on  account  of  the  encouraging  aspect 
of  affairs.  Then  followed  the  thanksgivings  of  Au- 
gust and  November,  and  for  the  time  the  reformation 
movement  was  laid  by. 

The  next  action  was  taken  by  Connecticut.  In 
October  the  General  Court,  after  appointing  the 
thanksgiving,  issued  a  proclamation  for  a  reformation 
fast  the  15th  of  November.  The  order  notes  that 
"  some  solemne  reflections  haue  been  recommended  to 
the  several  churches  and  congregations,"  but  "  little 
1  Mather's  Hist,,  p.  163.  2  jft^v?.,  pp.  181,  182. 


212         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

effect "  has  been  observed ;  therefore  a  second  occasion 
for  humiliation  is  appointed.^ 

Meanwhile  the  ministers  of  Massachusetts,  though 
somewhat  diverted  by  fasts  for  their  "messengers 
sent  into  England,"  were  discussing  the  reformation 
among  themselves.  Private  meetings  were  held,  as 
Sewall's  ''  Diary  "  shows,  to  consider  the  prevaiUng  sins. 
By  the  month  of  February  there  was  sufficient  interest 
to  induce  the  governor  and  council  to  set  a  public 
reformation  fast  for  the  1st  of  March.  The  procla- 
mation is  found  in  full  in  the  Dorchester  church  rec- 
ords,2  and  there  alone,  so  far  as  we  are  aware ;  and, 
excepting  Hull's  "  Diary,"  it  is  the  only  evidence  found 
of  such  a  day.  Nor  are  we  in  doubt  as  to  the  reason 
for  this  unusual  record  in  that  church's  archives :  it  is 
said  that  it  was  because  the  same  was  "  moe  than  usu- 
ally was  wont  to  be."  It  surely  was  in  length  and  in 
tone.  In  some  other  instances  the  drafts  of  proclama- 
tions in  the  hand  of  Increase  Mather  have  been  found, 
but  here  we  have  only  the  style  and  the  circumstances 
to  submit  in  evidence  of  its  authorship.  Yet  we  un- 
hesitatingly claim  that  Mather  wrote  it.  The  Dorches- 
ter church  met  the  day  before  the  public  fast  to  con- 
sider in  what  they  had  fallen  short  of  their  covenant, 
and  subsequently,  on  March  4,  adopted  a  reformation 
covenant  and  proceeded  with  the  work.^  Doubtless 
other  churches  did  the  same,  but  the  plan  is  best  illus- 
trated in  the  full  records  of  this  church,  to  which  the 
interested  student  is  referred.  It  was  at  one  of  these 
meetings  —  a  church  fast  at  Dorchester,  March  21, 
1676-7 — that  Increase  Mather  preached  his  sermon 

1  Conn.  Col.  Rec,  ii.  296,  297.  2  Dor.  chh.  rec,  pp.  71,  72. 

8  Ibid.,  pp.  17-20,  69-74. 


THE  REFORMATION  FASTS.  213 

entitled  "  Renewal  of  Covenant  the  great  Duty  incum- 
bent on  decaying  or  distressed  Churches."  ^  Thus  was 
this  feature  of  the  reformation  movement  adopted  by 
the  churches. 

The  years  1677  and  1678  present  no  new  interest 
in  our  study.  PubUc  affairs  engaged  attention,  and 
the  smallpox  broke  out,  for  which  causes  mainly  the 
colonies  fasted.  Yet  the  movement  progressed  by 
the  aid  of  conference  meetings  and  vigorous  sermons. 
Increase  Mather's  fast  sermon,  "Pray  for  the  Rising 
Generation,"  ^  may  suffice  to  show  the  temper  of  the 
pulpit.  A  general  revival  of  religious  interest  was 
manifest  everywhere.  When  the  Commissioners  of  the 
United  Colonies  convened  at  Hartford,  September  5, 
1678,  they  expressed  this  by  recommending  a  joints 
fast  day  the  21st  of  November.  It  was  kept  by  all, 
each  issuing  its  own  proclamation,  in  which  the  par- 
ticulars recited  by  the  commissioners  were  introduced.^ 
These  were  six  in  niunber,  and  the  fifth  shows  the  re- 
lation of  the  occasion  to  the  reformation,  —  "  That  a 
spirit  of  conversion  may  be  poured  out  upon  our  chil- 
dren, that  they  may  give  up  themselves  and  their  seed 
after  them  to  be  the  Lord's,  willingly  subjecting  them- 
selves to  all  his  holy  rules  and  government  in  his 
house."  At  least  two  sermons  preached  on  that  fast 
were  printed,  and  both  contain  in  their  titles  the  sen- 
timents of  the  time.  Joseph  Rowlandson  preached  at . 
Wethersfield,  Conn.,  on  "The  Possibility  of  God's! 
Forsaking  a  people  that  have  been  visibly  near  &  dear  / 
to  him;"  and  William  Adams  preached  at  Dedham, 

1  See  Bibliography,  No.  13.  2  jj^v/.,  No.  14. 

8  Pit/.  Col.  Bee,  X.  398,  399 ;  Mass.  Col.  Rec,  v.  196 ;  Conn.  Col 
Rec.y  iii.  20,  21. 


y 


i 


214         FAST  AND  THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

Mass.,  on  "  The  Necessity  of  the  pouring  out  of  the 
Spirit  from  on  High  upon  a  Sinning  Apostatizing 
People."  ^  From  these  we  may  judge  of  the  character 
ot,  the  day  evt  rvwliere  in  Xew  England.  It  is  possi- 
ble that  this  humiliation  caused  the  omission  of  the 
autumnal  thanksgiving  day  in  the  Bay  Colony,  as  a 
sunilar  occasion  had  in  1675,  or  left  it  to  the  orderuig 
o£  churches  and  the  inclination  of  the  people.^  Con- 
necticut had  kept  October  31,  and  Plymouth  Novem- 
ber 6. 

Having  now  this  knowledge  of  the  strength  of  the 
movement,  it  would  be  expected  that  it  would  formu- 
late its  opinions  in  an  assembly  of  the  churches.  It 
did  so  in  what  is  known  as  the  "  Reforming  Synod  " 
of  1679.  The  phrase  "Mather's  Synod"  would  be  ap- 
propriate, for  it  was  largely  his  own  affair,  and  the 
modem  critic  is  prepared  to  appreciate  the  spelling  of 
an  ancient  chronicler  who  calls  it  a  "  Sin-od."  The 
General  Court  of  Massachusetts  had  before  it,  May 
28,  1679,  a  lengthy  petition,  which  is  characterized  in 
the  Colonial  Records  as  "  a  motion  made  by  some  of  the 
reuerend  elders,  that  there  might  be  a  convening  of 
the  elders  &  messengers  of  the  churches  in  forme  of  a 
synod,  for  the  reuisall  of  the  platforme  of  discipljne 
agreed  vpon  by  the  churches,  1647,  and  what  else 
may  appeare  necessary  for  the  preventing  schishmes, 
haeresies,  prophaness,  &  the  establishment  of  the 
churches  in  one  faith  &  order  of  the  gospell."  The 
original  is  preserved  in  the  state  archives,  and  is 
signed   by  the  following  ministers:    John  Eliot,  In- 

^  See  Bibliography,  Nos.  15  and  16. 

^  Dorchester  kept  December  18,  and  the  record  afiPords  negative 
evidence  that  a  previous  thanksgiving  had  not  been  kept. 


THE  REFORMATION  FASTS,  215 

crease  Mather,  Samuel  Torrey,  Samuel  Willard,  Moses 
Fiske,  Josiah  Flint,  Thomas  Clark,  James  Sherman, 
Joseph  Whiting,  Samuel  Cheever,  Samuel  Phillips, 
Solomon  Stoddard,  Samuel  Whiting,  Sen.,  Thomas 
Cobbet,  Edward  Bulkely,  John  Sherman,  John  Hig- 
ginson,  John  Hale,  Samuel  Whiting,  Jun'.,  and  John 
Wilson.  1 

At  the  same  time,  and  of  even  date  with  it,  a  draft 
of  a  proclamation  for  a  public  fast  was  presented.  It 
is  printed  in  the  Colonial  Records.  The  original  manu- 
script, however,  is  in  the  archives,  and  the  curious  can 
satisfy  themselves  by  the  handwriting  that  the  author 
was  Increase  Mather.'-^  The  motion  of  the  ministers 
was  agreed  to,  and  the  synod  was  called  for  September 
10,  and  so  also  was  the  proclamatio»  issued  appoint- 
ing the  10th  of  July  as  a  fast  to  pray  for  it.  A  manu- 
script sermon  by  Ichabod  Wiswall,  of  Duxbury,  in  the 
collection  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society,  also 
shows  that  the  event  was  remembered  "  On  a  fast 
daye  being  gennerall  in  Coloney  New  Plymouth,  16  of 
July  1679,"  though  it  Ls  the  only  evidence  we  have  of 
the  fact.  The  two  questions  propounded  for  considera- 
tion, also  extant  in  Mather's  hand,  were:  "1.  What 
are  y®  EuiLs  that  haue  provoked  the  Lord  to  bring  his 
Judgments  on  New  England?  2.  What  is  to  be  done 
that  so  those  evils  may  be  reformed  ? "  When  the 
time  came,  all  the  messengers  did  not  put  in  an  ap- 
pearance, and  the  synod  adjourned  to  September  16, 
when  they  kept  a  fast,  the  aged  Thomas  Cobbett 
preaching  in  the  morning  and  Increase  Mather  in  the 
afternoon.  After  abundant  consideration,  a  committee, 
of  which  Mather  was  the  penman,  drew  up  the  result, 
1  State  Archives:  Ecc,,  x.  196.  2  1^^,^  x.  20. 


216         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING    DAYS. 

which  is  found  in  the  "  Magnalia,"  and  a  manuscript 
draft  of  the  same  is  in  the  American  Antiquarian  So- 
ciety. The  prevailing  view  of  provoking  evils  was 
sustained,  and  measures  were  recommended  for  reform- 
ing and  training  the  rising  generation,  and  especially 
was  the  practice  of  "  renewal  of  covenant "  on  days  of 
humiliation  encouraged.  On  the  15th  of  October  the 
General  Court  approved  the  result  and  commended  it 
to  the  churches.  Furthermore,  they  ordered  a  public 
fast  for  December  11  to  pray  for  grace  to  reform 
those  evils  that  had  been  witnessed  against  by  the 
synod.  The  Colonial  Records  do  not  mention  this 
fast,  and  we  know  of  no  evidence  of  it  other  than  a 
single  copy  of  the  proclamation  in  broadside  in  the 
library  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society.  It  has 
the  unmistakable  earmarks  of  the  reverend  author  of 
everything  else  connected  with  the  reformation,  of 
which  the  reader  can  judge :  — 

[seal.] 

At  A 

General  Court 

Held  at  Boston,  October  15,  1679. 

This  Court  being  sensible  of  the  solemn  Rebukes  of  God  upon  his 
poor  People  |  throughout  this  Land,  from  year  to  year  ;  our  Do- 
ings against  the  Lord  having  pro  |  voked  the  eyes  of  his  glory, 
so  as  that  he  hath  visited  us  with  the  Sword,  and  since  |  that, 
hath  given  a  Commission  to  the  destroying  Angel,  in  respect  of 
a  sore  and  terrible  |  Disease,  which  hath  been  of  long  continu- 
ance, and  more  contagious  and  mortal  then  in  |  former  times  ; 
and  his  holy  Hand  is  in  that  way  stretched  out  stil  over  some  of 
our  Plantations.  |  And  very  lately,  the  Lord  God  hath  called 
to  contend  by  Fire,  which  hath  devoured  a  great  part  of  ]  that 
Town,  in  whose  welfare  all  New-England  is  concerned  ;  and 
therefore  we  have  all  cause  with  [  bleeding  hearts,  to  lament 


THE  REFORMATION  FASTS.  217 

over  the  doleful  Ruines  and  Desolations,  which  the  Lord  for  our 
iniquityes  |  hath  in  one  day  brought  upon  us  :  especially  consid- 
ering, that  at  the  same  time,  God  is  taking  away  |  from  us  the 
Fruits  of  the  earth,  by  a  greater  Blasting  then  heretofore  we  have 
had  experience  of.  And  |  the  Lords  Watchmen,  with  the  gen- 
erality of  serious  Christians,  are  not  without  sad  thoughts  of 
heart  |  lest  if  we  be  not  reformed  by  these  things,  God  should 
punish  us  yet  seven  times  for  our  sins,  yea  and  at  |  last  remove 
our  Candlesticks  out  of  their  places:  and  there  are  already  some 
awfull  Symptons  of  a  |  Famine  of  hearing  the  Word  of  the 
Lord  ;  and  other  spiritual  Judgments,  calling  upon  us  to  gather 
our  I  selves  together,  in  a  way  of  solemn  Humiliation  and  Re- 
pentance before  the  Decree  bring  forth.  Being  |  also  sensible 
that  the  Churches  of  Christ  abroad  in  the  world,  are  wrestling 
with  sore  distressing  |  difficultyes,  in  this  day  of  trouble,  when 
the  Children  are  come  to  the  birth,  but  there  is  not  strength 
to  I  "bring  forth,  | 

Do  therefore  appoint  the  second  Thursday  in  December  next, 
to  be  observed  as  a  day  |  of  publick  Humiliation  throughout  this 
Jurisdiction,  earnestly  exhorting  all  the  Inhabitants  |  thereof  not 
only  to  confess  but  to  forsake  their  Sins,  that  so  they  may  find 
mercy  with  God  |  through  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  cry  mightily  to 
Heaven,  as  for  pardon,  so  for  Grace  to  reform,  |  those  evils  that 
have  by  the  late  Reverend  Synced  been  witnessed  against,  and  de- 
clared to  be  1  the  provoking  procuring  causes  of  the  Lords  Con- 
troversy with  New-England.  As  also  to  pray  |  that  the  Lord 
would  remember  his  people  in  Europe,  more  especially  in  the 
Land  of  our  Fore-  |  Fathers  Sepulchres,  maintaining  his  own 
Cause  as  the  matter  may  require. 

Edward  Rawson  Seer, 

Thus  did  the  ecclesiastical  statesman  of  Massachu- 
setts carry  his  point,  advancing  the  reformation  by 
the  authority  of  the  court,  and  securing  their  sanction 
for  the  plan  of  renewing  covenant  with  God.  The 
churches  responded  to  the  advice  of  the  synod,  and 
such  as  had  not  already  done  so  had  covenanting 
days.  On  the  17th  of  March,  1679-80,  at  such 
an  occasion  in  the  Second  Church,  Increase  Mather 


218         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

and  Samuel  Willard  preached  sermons  which  are  in 
print.  1  It  was  some.^mes  customary  to  hold  a  pre- 
paratory service,  and  even  to  read  the  result  of  the 
synod.  Upon  the  fast  appointed,  before  a  solemn 
assembly  at  which  neighboring  ministers  were  present, 
the  covenant  was  read  and  consented  to  by  the  people, 
"  the  brethren  lifting  up  their  hands  and  ^yhe  women 
only  standing  up."  It  was  an  all-day  se'^vice,  with 
only  a  brief  intermission,  a  visiting  clergyman  preach- 
ing in  the  afternoon.  Those  who  made  most  of  the 
children's  covenant  found  also  a  place  for  it  in  the 
exercises.  No  one  form  of  covenant  ^^revailed,  each 
church  adopting  its  own;  but  the  le  which  is 
found  in  the  "Magnalia"  was  used  by  '^ide  in  the 
was  undoubtedly  that  drafted  by  Increase  Txier  tor 
the  Second  Church  in  Boston.  ^  The  Thid  Church 
employed  it  June  29,  1680,  fwhen  Samuel  Willard 
preached  on  "  The  Necessity  of  Sincerity  in  renewing 
Covenant."  DorchestcT*  ^nd  Salem  ^'  ^d  forms  of 
their  own.  Michael  ^  ^lesworth  composed  the  one 
employed  by  the  Maiden  church  April  15,  1680,  a 
public  fast,  upon  which  many  churches  renewed  cove- 
nant. It  was  printed  in  a  quaiiio  form  in  1727,  and 
probably  used  December  21  on  account  of  the  earth- 
quake.^ 

Connecticut  had  no  part  in  the  "  Reforming  Synod," 
and  the  custom  which  had  been  instituted  within  its 
borders  had  only  a  limited  observance.  But  the  pro- 
clamation for  a  fast  June  16,  1680,  shows  a  sympathy 
with  the  efforts  of  their  neighbors.  The  reformation 
would  never  have  gained  such  strength  in  Massachu- 

1  See  Bibliography,  Nos.  17  and  IS.  ^  Magnolia,  ii.  332,  333. 

^  Copy  in  Conn.  Hist.  Soc. 


THE  REFORMATION  FASTS,  219 

setts  but  for  the  indefatigablr  efforts  of  Increase 
Mather,  and  he  gained  no  litt-;3'  influence  by  it.  He 
became  the  foremost  prophet  of  Israel,  and  perhaps 
there  is  no  better  evidence  of  it  than  the  keeping  of 
October  13,  1680,  as  a  thanksgiving  in  the  First 
Church  for  his  recovery  from  a  sickness  which  followed 
his  arduoi  labors.  In  liis  manuscript  diary  he  calls 
it  a  "  public  thanksgiving,"  but  we  judge  that  he  refers 
only  to  the  churches  of  Boston  which  were  there  repre- 
sented, and  whose  ministers  offered  him  their  congrat- 
ulations. * 

It  must  not  ^  e  thought  that  such  covenanting  fasts 

soon  P'>"^^'1  '    fc  of  date ;  they  passed  rather  into  the 

^T^-^th^T  ^^  *  ^  ^^^^  churches.     They  were  kept  up  at 

intervals        fifty  years,  as  church  records  and  printed 

sermons  pfove.^ 

But  the  people  could  not  always  wear  "  sackcloth 
and  ashes."  Soon  their  fears  subsided.  In  the  words 
of  Willartl's  i*mon  title,  nd  'found  that  "  the  fiery 
trial  was  no  strange  thing."^  In  some  respects  the 
effect  of  the'  reformation  movement  was  beneficial,  in 
others  injurious.  Greater  interest  was  thereafter  taken 
in  the  children.  They  were  regarded  as  under  the 
watch  and  care  of  the  church.  Catechisms  were 
brought  out  and  used.  Perhaps  the  churches  were 
strengthened  by  it,  and  certainly  the  membership  was 
increased.  But  it  did  not  accompHsh  what  was  anti- 
cipated, and  the  consequent  depression  over  the  sup- 
posed degeneracy  continued  for  years.    Its  effect  upon 

1  The  titles  of  several  sermons  may  be  found  in  the  Bibliography. 
On  the  30th  of  May,  1694,  the  ministers  again  memorialized  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  on  the  subject  of  reformation,  referring  to  this  former 
attempt  and  the  laws  of  1675.  See  State  Archives :  Ecc.^  xi.  79,  80 ; 
Acts  and  Resolves ,  vii.  537-540. 


^ 


220         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

the  laws  was  marked,  but  they  were  carried  to  extremes 
and  became  inoperative.  At  one  time  the  ministers 
read  certain  of  them  annually  from  the  pulpit.  The 
church  was  thus  burdened  with  a  responsibility  which 
belonged  to  the  courts,  and  that  was  injurious  to  both. 
After  the  immediate  excitement  had  died  away,  New 
England  life  was  very  much  the  same  as  it  had  been, 
and  that  was  very  far  from  exhibiting  any  evidences 
that  the  people  belonged  to  a  degenerate  race. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE   CONFLICT   OF   AUTHORITIES. 

1684-1692. 

The  primary  authority  for  the  appointment  of  New 
England  fast  and  thanksgiving  days  was  vested  in  the 
churches.  This  was  their  birthright  in  England.  In 
Plymouth,  Massachusetts^  Connecticut,  and  New  Ha- 
ven colonies  the  congregations  by  distinct  vote  named 
their  days.  Even  after  the  power  had  become  a  recog- 
nized function  of  government,  some  churches,  for  a 
time,  continued  to  vote  on  the  keeping  of  those  thus 
proclaimed.  This  right  has  never  been  invalidated, 
though  it  has  fallen  into  disuse.  Church  fasts  — 
which  the  practice  of  fasting  on  installation  days, 
afterwards  changed  to  feasting,  kept  alive  many  years 
—  have  been  discontinued.  It  rests  now  with  the 
churches  to  say  whether  or  not  they  will  observe  a  fast 
day,  and  whether  it  shall  be  on  Good  Friday  or 
some  other  day.  Civil  authority  can  set  a  holiday,  but 
it  cannot  secure  the  observance  of  a  holy  day.  In 
early  times  the  elder  or  minister  proposed  a  fast  or 
thanksgiving  day  to  the  church,  stating  the  reasons 
moving  thereto,  upon  which  the  church  voted.  Any 
individual  could  "  put  up  a  bill "  for  prayer  or  thanks- 
giving in  the  Sunday  service  on  his  own  behalf.  So, 
in  the  larger  application  of  the  principle,  any  minister 
or  number    ^  ministers  could  prepare  a  proclamation 


./ 


222         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

and  lay  it  before  the  General  Court  or  the  governor 
and  council.  The  theory  was  that  the  court  acted  at 
the  desire  of  the  churches.  Its  sanction  brought  the 
day  under  the  laws  which  protected  its  holy  character, 
and  compelled  attendance  upon  the  services.  Our 
custom  of  reading  proclamations  from  the  pulpit  is  a 
recognition  of  the  necessary  assent  of  the  church,  and 
grew  out  of  it.  We  have  instances  at  hand  where  this 
assent  was  withheld,  at  least  by  a  neglect  of  the  day. 
In  course  of  time  the  vote  was  considered  to  be  in  the 
affirmative,  "  no  one  speaking."  There  is  every  rea- 
son why  the  custom  of  reading  proclamations  should 
be  perpetuated  in  Congregational  churches  as  a  recog- 
nition of  their  own  ecclesiastical  authority,  and  it 
should  be  on  a  previous  Sunday  as  the  warrant  for 
the  appointment,  rather  than  on  the  day  itself  as  the 
warrant  for  assembling. 

It  was  because  the  ministers  had  the  right  to  move 
for  these  appointments  that  they  wrote  so  many  of 
the  proclamations  of  colonial  times.  As  they  lost 
this,  the  civil  authorities  assumed  it,  and  gradually  the 
proclamation  became  an  affair  of  the  governor.  If 
no  draft  was  presented,  the  secretary  advised  with 
some  one  of  the  neighboring  ministers  as  to  the 
causes  which  might  properly  be  enumerated.  There 
are  instances  where  a  minister  was  a  member  of  the 
General  Court,  and  was  delegated  by  them  to  draw 
up  a  proclamation.  Though  the  governor  did,  doubt- 
less, sometimes  write  it,  or  one  of  the  magistrates,  the 
larger  part,  down  to  th3  setting  up  of  the  provincial 
government,  exhibit  the  style  of  the  minister.  In 
Massachusetts,  however,  from  about  1650  to  1692,  a 
considerable  number  of  the  original  drafts  are  extant 


THE   CONFLICT  OF  AUTHORITIES.        223 

in  the  archives,  and  there  they  may  be  seen  in  the 
handwriting  of  their  ministerial  authors.  Increase 
Mather  wrote  some  of  the  most  important,  and  later 
his  son.  Cotton  Mather,  did  the  same. 

The  transfer  of  authority  from  the  church  to  the 
state  was  gTadual.  Dmdng  the  colonial  period  no  em- 
vbarrassment  could  arise,  for  the  state  was  the  church 
acting  in  a  civil  capacity.  The  General  Court,  com- 
posed of  church  members,  knew  the  pulse  of  the  re- 
ligious community,  and  answered  to  its  wish.  As  it 
was  desirable  that  neighboring  churches  should  keep 
the  same  day,  this  was  a  convenient  practice.  But 
the  court  was  not  in  session  at  all  times,  and  so  au- 
thority was  granted  to  the  governor  and  council  to 
issue  proclamations,  which  they  did,  either  at  the  re- 
quest of  ministers  or  upon  consultation  among  them- 
selves. This  fact  explains  the  absence  of  many  dates 
from  the  court  records,  wliich  contain  only  such  as 
that  body  appointed,  and  not  all  of  those  ;  ^  and  fur- 
thermore it  indicates  the  reason  for  many  erroneous 
deductions  as  to  these  days,  drawn  from  a  very  incom- 
plete hst.2  There  are  more  outside  of  the  Colonial 
Records  than  in  them.  Authority  was  granted  to  the 
governor  and  magistrates  in  Plymouth  Colony  by  the 
laws  of  1636,  though  used  before  that,  and  in  Con- 
necticut by  the  General  Court  of  May,  1655.  It 
seems   to   have   been    exercised   by  the   governor  in 

^  The  probable  explanation  of  these  omissions  is,  that  the  proclama- 
tion was  drafted  outside  of  the  court,  submitted  to  it,  and  the  vote 
indorsed  on  the  document,  so  it  was  never  attached  to  the  records. 

2  *'  The  Governor's  Fast,"  Chas.  E.  Stevens,  Esq.,  Congregationalist, 
March,  31  1892 ;  Customs  and  Fashions  in  Old  New  England^  Alice 
Morse  Earle ;  Acts  and  Resolves  of  the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay^ 
vol.  vii. 


224        FAST  AND  THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

Massachusetts  in  early  times,  and  February  22, 
1630-1  is  said  by  Winthi^op  to  have  been  apjDointed 
by  the  "governour  and  council."  In  1635  "a  general 
fast  was  proclaimed,  which,  because  the  court  was  not 
at  hand,  was  moved  by  the  elders  of  the  churches, 
and  assented  unto  by  the  ministers."  ^  The  standing 
council  was  created  about  that  time,  and  the  power 
passed  over  to  them,  though  also  exercised  by  the 
court.  With  reference  to  December  13,  1638,  Win- 
throp  says :  "A  general  fast  was  kept  upon  the 
motion  of  the  elders  to  the  Governour  and  Council."  ^ 
Thereafter  this  practice  of  appointment  by  the  gov- 
ernor and  council  was  common,  and  from  necessity 
with  such  frequent  days.  The  churches,  however, 
were  exceedingly  jealous  of  their  rights,  and  a  con- 
flict between  the  authority  of  the  church  and  the 
state  arose  when  the  theocracy  came  to  an  end  by  the 
downfall  of  the  colonial  charter. 

The  messengers  who  were  sent  to  England  to  ward 
off  the  threatened  blow  were  followed  with  earnest 
prayers.  During  the  absence  of  William  Stoughton 
and  Peter  Bulkley,  October  30,  1677,  to  December 
23,  1679,  their  mission  was  referred  to  in  the  follow- 
ing public  fasts  of  Massachusetts :  February  21, 
1677-8,  June  6,  1678,  and  July  10,  1679  ;  and  they 
were  welcomed  home  by  a  public  thanksgiving,  Jan- 
uary 22,  1679.  Again,  when  Joseph  Dudley  and 
John  Richards  were  in  England,  May  31,  1682,  to 
October  23,  1683,  there  were  several  fasts  on  their 
account,  —  June  22,  1682,  January  31,  1682-3,  and 
November  22,  1683,  the  last  because  the  charter  had 
been  called  for.  Their  safe  arrival  in  England  also 
1  Winthrop's  Histj  i.  216.  ^  j^j^^,^  i.  337. 


THE  CONFLICT  OF  AUTHORITIES.        225 

was  remembered  in  the  thanksgiving  November  23, 
1682.  The  influence  of  the  ministers  was  given 
against  yielding  the  charter,  and  some  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  express  their  views  in  sermons.  But  at  last 
the  charter  died,  October  23,  1684,  and  soon  after  its 
royal  enemy  died  als.o.  When  the  former  event  be- 
came knowTi  in  Boston,  a  pubhc  fast  was  ordered  for 
March  12,  1684-5.  Not  until  the  1st  of  July,  how- 
ever, did  a  copy  of  the  judgment  reach  them.  Mean- 
while the  General  Court  had  set  apart  July  16  as  a 
public  fast,  the  last  day  appointed  imder  their  dearly 
loved  charter.!  Still,  as  the  weeks  passed,  their 
dreaded  governor  did  not  arrive,  and  then  the  question 
arose  as  to  who  should  appoint  their  fast  and  thanks- 
giving days.  In  the  autumn  there  seemed,  to  some, 
reason  for  a  thanksgiving,  the  custom  being  at  that 
time  all  but  annual.  Sewall,  in  his  "  Diary,"  gives  us 
a  good  account  of  what  followed  in  these  entries : 
"Oct.  22.  .  .  .  No  Thanks-Giving  this  Session." 
'*  Nov.  6.  Mr.  Willard  calls  in  and  tells  me  of  a 
Thanks-Giving  intended  by  the  Ministers  through  the 
Colony  upon  the  3d  of  the  next  Moneth :  Go  to  the 
Govern  our  to  get  his  Approbation,  which  he  doth  not 
presently  grant ;  but  will  speak  of  it  in  Council  on 
Thorsday  next ;  whether  convenient  for  the  Churches 
generally  to  attend  such  a  Day  without  an  Order 
from  Authority  as  usual.  The  difficulty  of  Printing 
an  Order  is,  lest  by  putting  in  or  leaving  out,  we 
offend  England."  "Nov.  15.  .  .  .  Mr.  WiUard 
mentioned  what  the  Elders  had  done  as  to  a  Thanks- 
giving, and  propounded  to  the  Church  that  we  might  - 
have   one  on    the  First  Thorsday  in  December:  be- 

1  See  State  Archives  :  Ecc.,  xi.  88. 


226         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

cause  had  Fasted,  and  God  had  graciously  answered 
our  Prayers  ;  so  should  meet  Him  in  the  same  place 
to  give  Thanks  for  that,  and  any  other  Providence 
that  hath  passed  before  us.  Silence  gave  Consent, 
no  one  speaking."  "  Nov.  18.  Uncomfortable  Court 
day  by  reason  of  the  extream  sharp  words  between 
the  Deputy  Governour  and  Mr.  Stoughton,  Dudley 
and  Others.  Some  Essay  to  have  put  a  Sanction 
upon  the  Apointment  for  a  Thanksgiving  ;  but  it  fell 
throw.  I  argued  't  was  not  fit  upon  meer  Generals, 
as  (the  Mercies  of  the  year)  to  Coinand  a  Thanksgiv- 
ing and  of  Particulars  we  could  not  agree.  Govern- 
our would  have  had  one  Article  for  the  Peace  of 
England,  ac(3ording  to  His  Majesty's  Proclamation." 
"  Nov.  20.  .  .  .  'T  was  Essayed  again  to  have  had  a 
Sanction  put  on  the  Thanksgiving :  but  't  was  again 
pleaded,  to  do  it  without  mentioning  particular  causes 
would  be  to  impose  too  much  on  those  Comanded  : 
So  feU."  1 

It  will  not  be  inferred  from  this  controversy  that 
any  were  opposed  to  thanksgivings,  and  the  fact  that 
they  were  not  then  accustomed  to  have  thanksgivings 
for  mere  general  causes  is  for  the  present  passed. 
Evidently  the  court  purposely  omitted  the  proclama- 
tion for  fear  of  giving  oifense  by  "  putting  in  or 
leaving  out."  Then  the  ministers  met  and  decided 
to  keep  December  3,  with  sanction  of  civil  authority 
if  it  could  be  had,  if  not  without  it.  They  failed  to 
secure  it.  This  therefore  became  an  issue  between 
the  old  charter  and  the  moderate  parties.  But  the 
point  we  notice  particularly  is,  that  the  ministers  con- 
sidered it  their  prerogative  to  move  for  such  appoint- 
1  Sewall's  Diary,  i.  101-107. 


THE   CONFLICT   OF  AUTHORITIES.  227 

ments.  The  day  was  kept  by  the  churches,  and  with 
unusual  interest  among  such  as  were  disaffected  with 
the  government. 

The  General  Court  recovered  sufficient  courage  to 
appoint  a  fast  the  25th  of  March  following ;  but  in 
May  the  new  government  was  set  up,  with  Joseph 
Dudley  as  president.  The  same  question  thereupon 
appeared  again,  for  the  president  and  council  issued 
an  order  for  a  fast  July  14,  1686,  partly  to  pray  for 
rain,  but  principally  "  for  a  blessing  upon  the  change 
of  government."  The  proclamation  was  read  gener- 
ally, but  the  day  was  neglected  among  the  old  charter 
party  so  much  as  they  dared  in  the  face  of  laws  com- 
pelling their  attendance  upon  worship.  An  example 
was  made  of  two  prominent  men  of  the  town  of 
Woburn,  William  Johnson  and  Thomas  Kendall, 
who  were  made  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and 
were  "  sharply  reproved  by  the  Council "  for  stajring 
at  home  on  the  fast  day  and  having  a  company  of 
men  gathered.  ^  The  issue  appeared  again  when  the 
thanksgiving  day  November  25  was  appointed,  many 
being  sorely  displeased  at  the  preamble  to  the  pro- 
clamation :  ''  As  also  for  that  His  Majesties  Kingdoms, 
and  other  His  Majesties  Plantations,  flourish  in  all 
happy  peace  and  tranquility." 

About  this  time  there  was  a  revival  of  interest  in 
keeping  English  holidays,  and  Christmas,  Easter,  and 
saints'  days,  which  reacted  to  strengthen  the  attach- 
ment for  fast  and  thanksgiving  seasons.  Of  course 
this  was  due  to  the  Episcopalians.  The  New  Eng- 
landers  had  hitherto  been  favorably  disposed  toward 

^  Sewall's  Diary ^1.  145,  146;  Archives  of  Mass. :  MS.  Council  Min,, 
iL64. 


228        FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

November  5,  Guy  Fawkes's  Day,  but  when  the  church- 
men commemorated  it  in  their  services,  spiced  with 
sermons  preached  against  the  dissenters  in  the  Town 
House,  it  became  unpopular.  The  king's  birthday 
was  greeted  with  guns  and  military  displays,  and  so 
was  the  anniversary  of  his  coronation.  The  people 
were  not  in  the  mood  to  enjoy  this.  Some  of  those 
dead  Cromwellians  must  have  turned  in  their  graves 
hard  by  at  the  ringing  of  a  bell  to  call  worshipers  to 
mourn  the  beheading  of  Charles  I.  Maypoles  were 
set  up,  and  the  customs  of  Shrove  Tuesday  revived. 
So  these  "  Whitsuntiders  "  or  "  Christmas-keepers," 
as  they  were  called,  checked  the  growth  of  a  more 
liberal  sentiment  regarding  Clu-istmas.  In  1684 
many  had  closed  their  shops  on  that  day,  but  there 
were  fewer  in  1685,  and  in  1686  "  the  shops  were 
generally  open  and  persons  about  their  occasions." 
Sewall  says :  "  Some  somehow  observe  the  day,  but  are 
vexed,  I  believe,  that  the  body  of  the  People  profane 
it,  and  blessed  be  God  no  Authority  yet  to  compell 
them  to  keep  it."  Not  until  the  provincial  govern- 
ment had  been  long  established  did  the  feeling  sub- 
side which  was  revived  against  these  holy  days  during 
this  transitional  period. 

Sir  Edmund  Andros  arrived  December  20,  1686. 
We  have  sought  in  vain  for  any  evidence  that  a  pub- 
lic fast  was  kept  in  Massachusetts  in  the  spring  of 
1687.  Some  churches  may  have  set  such  a  day,  as 
they  did  during  the  summer  on  account  of  caterpillars ; 
but  there  was  no  disposition  to  move  the  royal  gov- 
ernor and  council.  The  issue  that  was  sure  to  come 
slumbered  until  the  time  for  thanksgiving  drew  near. 
Then,  the  governor  being  absent  in  Connecticut,  the 


THE   CONFLICT  OF  AUTHORITIES.        229 

ministers  concerted  to  keep  November  17.  The 
causes  are  thus  given  in  the  Salem  church  records : 
"  1,  the  mercy  of  the  harvest ;  2,  the  mercy  of  the 
King's  declaration  for  liberty  of  Religion  and  confirma- 
tion of  our  properties  :  and  3,  for  the  general  health 
and  peace  amongst  us  here."  But,  alas  !  the  gov- 
ernor returned  to  Boston  the  day  before  the  contem- 
plated thanksgiving,  and,  learning  the  facts,  inter- 
preted them  as  a  defiance  of  his  government,  it  being, 
he  thought,  his  prerogative  to  make  such  appointments, 
as  the  custom  was  in  England.  In  the  evening,  says 
Sewall,  he  sends  for  the  ministers,  and  "  so  Schools 
them  that  the  Thanksgiving  is  put  by  which  was  to 
have  been  the  17th."  It  was  too  late,  however,  to  in- 
terrupt the  services  in  remote  towns  which  had  taken 
up  the  proposition,  and  the  day  was  observed,  as  at 
Salem.  There  was  one  minister,  who  was  probably 
among  those  summoned  before  his  Excellency,  who 
never  forgot  that  schooling  :  it  was  Increase  Mather. 
Accustomed,  as  he  and  His  son  Cotton  Mather  were, 
to  secure  appointments  and  write  proclamations,  it 
was  a  hard  blow.  The  following  spring  this  New 
England  bishop  sailed  for  London.  He  then  pre- 
sented a  "  Memorial  of  Grievances  "  to  the  king,  and 
among  them  he  recites  further  facts  regarding  this 
occasion.  "  As  to  matters  of  religion,"  he  says,  "  they 
are  inhibited  the  free  exercise  thereof,  for  they  are 
not  allowed  to  set  dayes  for  prayer  or  thanksgiving. 
When  the  ministers  in  Boston  had  agreed  with  their 
congregations  solemnly  to  praise  God  because  of  the 
Kings  Declaration  of  Indulgences,  Sir  Edmund  An- 
dros  enterteyned  them  with  threatening  words,  say- 
ing it  was   faction  in  them,  and  bad  them  meet  at 


230         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

their  perill,  and  told  them  that  hee  should  then  send 
soldiers  to  guard  them  and  their  meeting-houses."  ^ 
In  a  "  Memorial  of  the  Dissenters  of  New  England  " 
the  matter  is  referred  to  in  these  words :  "  They  are 
not  suffered  to  set  apart  dayes  of  prayer  or  thanksgiv- 
ing, no  not  even  for  the  blessing  of  your  Gracious 
Declaration  for  Liberty  of  Conscience.  Nor  were  the 
people  there  encouraged  to  make  humble  addresses 
of  thankes  but  y®  contrary."  ^  The  church  record 
quoted  is  all  the  knowledge  we  have  of  what  was  a 
statement  of  causes  drawn  up  by  the  ministers,  but 
it  was  well  they  mentioned  in  it  the  declaration  of 
the  king.  Thus  they  made  out  a  fair  case  on  the 
face  of  it,  but  in  truth  they  cared  more  about  their 
right  to  keep  such  days  as  they  pleased  than  about 
this  one  item.  On  the  other  hand,  there  was  rea- 
sonable excuse  for  Governor  Andros's  action,  and 
the  friends  of  his  government  must  have  agreed 
with  him,  for  he  viewed  such  days  as  of  civil  appoint- 
ment, as  in  England.  When  the  ministers  named 
such  a  day  they  were  usurping  authority.  It  was  too 
late  for  them  to  recover  what  they  had  lost  under 
their  theocratic  administration,  namely,  this  independ- 
ence as  congregations  separated  from  the  state.  Had 
they  ever  dreamed  that  a  fast  day  would  thus  be  or- 
dered in  Massachusetts  without  their  free  consent, 
they  would  have  cherished  their  religious  rights  more 
diligently. 

The  governor,  however,  immediately  summoned  his 
council,  November  19,  and  put  forth  a  proclamation 
for  a  thanksgiving  to  be  observed  throughout  all  New 

1  Andros  Tracts,  iii.  139  n. 
"^  ^  Ibid. ;  Archives  of  Mass. :  Ecc,  xi.  44. 


THE   CONFLICT   OF  AUTHORITIES.        231 

England  the  1st  of  December  following.  The  or- 
der is  here  given  as  found  in  the  archives  of  Con- 
necticut :  ^  — 

Att  a  councill  held  att  y*  council  chaber  in  boston  on  Sat :  y" 
19  d.  of  Nov.  — 1687  —  prest  —  His  xcell  S'  Edm.  Andros  Kn*.  &c. 
God  having  bee  infinitly  &  m'ciful  to  y"  gov'n""*  &c  —  order'd  y' 
thursday®  1*'  da  of  Dec.  nxt  nsuin  b  solemnly  &  publicly  kept 
&  obs.  in  al  towns  &  pi.  w0in  y"  hs  Maj.  territory  &  dominio 
of  N.  E.  as  a  day  of  pr.  &  thansgiv.  to  G  almighty  for  hs 
Majesties  heal0  (who  y  Id  g  prserv.  to  reign  ov'  us)  &  hs  many 
royal  favours  bestow'd  on  h'  subj'  :  here.  &  for  all  off  blessings 
&  m'cies  of  heald  plenty  &c  in  6es  pts,  &  hubly  to  implore  y* 
contin.  y'of.  And  o  y*  da  al  p'sons  are  to  dsist  fro  al  mail' 
of  servil  workes  or  labour  of  w"**  al  minist"  &  off  officers  in  y' 
respectiv  pi.  are  to  give  notice  &  conform  yms.  therevnto  ac- 
cordingly. 

By  ord'.  in  couusil  &c 

In**  West  Sec'. 

This  was  a  general  thanksgiving  throughout  New 
England,  and,  though  it  was  observed,  the  people 
nowhere  had  a  pleasure  in  it.  In  Plymouth,  Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut,  and  New  Hampshire  it  was  not 
out  of  the  ordinary  custom ;  but  in  Rhode  Island, 
where  any  such  days  that  may  have  been  kept  had 
been  by  churches  or  families  in  sympathy  with  the 
neighboring  colonies,  it  was  a  strange  god.  There 
some  ignored  it,  not  more  because  it  was  proclaimed 
by  Andros  than  because  it  was  the  introduction  of  a 
new  custom.  For  opening  their  shops  Samuel  Sta- 
pleton  and  Christopher  Hargall,  of  Newport,  were 
brought  to  court.  The  former  made  answer  "  that 
he  was  above  the  observation  of  days  and  times  ;  "  and 
the  latter  said  his  boy  opened  the  shop  and  wrought 
on  his  own  account,  but  had  he  not  been  lame  "  he  did 

1  State  Arch.  Conn. :   MisceL,  i.  33.      Cf.  State  Arch.  Mass. :  Coun. 
Min.y  ii.  153,  and  Conn.  Col.  Rec,  iii.  393. 


232        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

not  know  but  that  himself  might  have  wrought." 
Probably  the  authorities  elsewhere  winked  at  the  neg- 
lect of  many. 

In  the  spring  of  1688  an  opportunity  was  afforded 
the  governor  for  humbling  his  adversaries  in  the 
dust.  A  thanksgiving  had  been  celebrated  in  Eng- 
land in  January  on  account  of  the  expectations  of 
the  queen.  According  to  Andros's  theory  of  govern- 
ment, the  same  should  be  ordered  in  the  colonies. 
Therefore,  on  the  18th  of  April,  the  following  procla- 
mation was  issued :  ^  — - 

By  his  Excellency 

A  Proclamation  appointing  a  time  of  publicke  Thanksgiving 
&  prayers  throwout  this  Dominion.  Whereas  it  hath  pleased 
Allmighty  God  (who  in  signal  manner  hath  blessed  his  Maj"' 
&  his  kingdomes  &  Dominions  under  his  Maj"*"  Govern'  with 
great  prosperity,  peace  &  plenty)  to  give  his  Maj"*'  also  appar- 
ent hopes  &  good  assurance  of  having  issue  by  his  Royall  Con- 
sort the  Queen,  who  (through  Gods  great  goodness)  at  y'  time 
of  o'  latest  intelligence  from  his  Kingdome  of  England  was  w*^ 
child:  &  for  as  much  as  increase  of  Issue  of  y"  Royal  family  is 
a  publick  blessing  &  under  God  y*  great  security  of  peace  & 
happiness  to  his  Maj'*"  Kingdomes  &  Dominions.  I  do  There- 
fore by  y°  advice  of  y"  Council  appoint,  coinand  &  require  y' 
upon  y®  twenty-ninth  Instant  throwout  y*  Dominion  publicke 
thanks  &  solemn  prayers  be  offered  up  to  Allmighty  God  for 
y®  occasion  afores^  &  y*  all  Ministers  &  others  do  take  notice 
hereof  &  demeane  themselves  in  all  things  accordingly. 

Dated  in  Boston  y°  eighteenth  day  of  April  in  y*  fourth  yeare 
of  his  Maj"«^  Reigne  Anoq.  Dom.  1688: 

E.  Andros. 

This  is  a  true  coppy  pr  order  Sam"  Gookin,  Shff. 

^  There  are  at  least  two  manuscript  copies  of  this  proclamation  ex- 
tant, one  in  the  Massachusetts  State  Archives,  Hutchinson  Papers^  the 
other  among  the  Mather  Papers,  Boston  Public  Library.  They  have 
slight  verbal  differences,  and  the  latter  is  signed  by  John  West,  R. 
Secretary. 


THE  CONFLICT  OF  AUTHORITIES,        233 

This  order  was  sent  the  next  day  to  all  the  colonies, 
and  in  a  few  days  the  governor  left  Boston,  expecting 
the  same  to  be  distributed  among  the  ministers.  For 
some  reason  they  were  not  generally  received,  and  the 
ministers  took  advantage  of  the  omission.  A  messen- 
ger was  sent  to  Samuel  Willard,  pastor  of  the  Third 
Church  in  Boston,  by  the  22d,  but  as  no  order  was 
given  him  he  did  not  mention  it.  One,  however,  was 
handed  him  the  night  before  the  day  appointed,  but 
he  did  not  read  it,  and  only  noticed  that  "  such  an 
occasion  was  by  the  Governour  recommended  to  be 
given  Thanks  for,"  and  prayed  "  more  particularly  and 
largely  for  the  King."  James  Allen,  minister  of  the 
First  Church,  incidentally  noticed  the  day,  and,  much 
to  the  displeasure  of  his  hearers,  gave  out  these  lines 
from  the  psalm-book :  — 

**  Jehovah  is  thy  strength, 
The  King  shall  joyful  be, 
And  joy  in  thy  salvation 
How  vehemently  shall  hee  I 
Thou  grantest  hast  to  him 
That  which  his  heart  desired, 
And  thou  hast  not  withholden  back 
That  which  his  lips  required." 

If  we  correctly  interpret  their  records,  the  churches 
round  about  Boston,  having  had  no  order,  did  not 
keep  the  occasion.  Many  did  not  regard  the  cause  as 
Andros  did,  though  it  was  customary  in  England  to 
recognize  such.  More  were  disgusted  with  the  change 
of  government ;  but  that  which  stirred  them  all  was 
that  the  order  commanded  a  "  time  "  of  thanksgiving, 
and  that  on  April  29,  a  Sunday,  contrary  to  their  will 
and  traditions,  the  implication  being  that  they  could 
introduce  into  their  services  a  prayer  of  thanksgiving, 


234        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

after  the  manner  of  the  Church  of  England.  That 
was  the  height  of  presumption  and  outrage  in  the 
minds  of  the  New  England  ministers.  The  governor 
himself  doubtless  appreciated  the  point,  and  yet  he 
could  plead,  as  he  did  in  writing  to  Connecticut,  "  the 
order  for  thanksgiving  is  as  ordered  and  kept  in 
England  in  January  last."  ^  Probably  the  ministers 
were  never  before  so  glad  to  miss  of  receiving  a  pro- 
clamation, and  it  seems  that  they  also  failed  to  get 
one  setting  a  fast  May  3  on  account  of  the  drought.^ 
But  this  was  not  the  last  of  the  matter.  On  August 
16  the  news  of  the  birth  of  a  prince  was  received,  and 
another  Sunday  thanksgiving  was  set  September  16, 
the  proclamation  for  which  is  in  print.^  What  must 
have  been  the  feeling  in  Boston  on  that  day,  as  the 
church  bells  were  ringing  for  afternoon  service,  when 
they  heard  guns  firing,  and  as  they  saw  in  the  evening 
bonfires  blazing  upon  their  hillsides  !  Still  the  gov- 
ernor could  say  he  was  only  ordering  the  affair  as  in 
England.  By  this  time  there  was  a  general  indigna- 
tion among  the  churches,  which  the  ministers  furthered 
by  sermon  and  prayer. 

We  have  next  to  record  the  most  poignant  blow 
which  the  government  of  Andros  could  give.  In  the 
winter  of  1688-9,  the  governor  being  absent,  a  few 
choice  spirits  of   the  Church  of  England,  who  were 

1  Conn.  Col.  Bee,  iii.  444. 

2  "  Ther  was  fast  in  o'  towne  it  is  said  a  publik  fast  but  few 
towns  had  notice  of  it  nor  had  wee  but  by  M^  Stoughtons  enforming 
y*  y®  Counsell  had  determined  it  ther  was  none  at  Rocksbery  nor 
Cambridg"  nor  watertown  nor  at  boston  "  (Dor.  chh.  rec,  p.  96).  The 
church  at  Plymouth  seem  to  have  kept  it. 

^  Hutchinson's  Hist.^  i.  372.  A  thanksgiving  for  this  cause  was 
kept  in  Philadelphia  December  26  (Penn.  Col,  Bee,  i.  229).  In  New 
York  the  day  was  September  2,  O.  S. 


THE   CONFLICT   OF  AUTHORITIES.        235 

members  of  the  council  at  Boston,  issued  an  order  for 
the  keeping  of  January  30  as  a  ''  day  of  fasting  and 
humiliation."  It  was  the  anniversary  of  the  behead- 
ing of  Charles  I.,  upon  which,  says  Macaulay,  "  the 
Anglican  clergy  had  during  many  years  thought  it 
a  sacred  duty  to  inculcate  the  doctrines  of  non-resist- 
ance and  passive  obedience."  A  similar  attempt  had 
been  made  in  New  Hampshire  in  1684,  of  which  the 
Colonial  Records  give  some  hint,  as  it  seems  to  have 
been  one  cause  of  a  disturbance.  New  England  had 
not  forgotten  the  days  of  the  Commonwealth,  and 
many  were  living  who  had  been  actors  in  its  scenes. 
A  day  of  humiliation  on  account  of  the  death  of 
Charles  I. !  Every  man  of  them  felt  that  it  was  an 
insult.  The  order,  which  hinted  spitefully  at  their 
plea  of  ignorance  on  the  former  occasion,  and  was 
served  upon  them  by  sheriffs  and  constables,  is  printed 
in  the  Collections  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  So- 
ciety, and  is  a  memorial  of  those  troublesome  days.^ 
Its  immortal  signers  were  Charles  Lidget,  Ben.  Bul- 
livant,  Antho.  Haywood,  and  Era.  Eoxcroft.  The 
ministers,  who  had  denounced  the  holy  days  of  Eng- 
land, who  had  compelled  others  to  abstain  from  labors 
on  innmnerable  fast  days,  who  had  evaded  the  authori- 
ties and  trifled  with  the  proclamation  shortly  before, 
would  now  receive  an  order  based  upon  the  statutes 
of  England,  and,  lest  it  should  miscarry  and  some 
"  plead  ignorance  therein,"  they  should  have  it  from 
the  constable.  Nothing  could  have  been  contrived 
more  obnoxious  to  them  ;  and  it  is  enough  that  we 
add  this  conclusion,  in  a  few  weeks  the  people  rose  in 
revolt   and   placed   the   above-mentioned  worthies  in 

1  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  III.  vol.  i.  pp.  83,  84 


236         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

jail.  We  find  no  evidence  that  the  order  was  read  in 
the  churches,  and,  from  its  omission  in  records  and 
diaries  where  such  are  usually  noted,  we  infer  that 
the  occasion  and  the  day  were  wholly  ignored.  It  was 
too  evidently  an  attempt  to  foist  upon  them  the  holy 
days  of  England.  Surely  it  was  not  the  least  of  the 
causes  which  led  to  the  overthrow  of  Andros  that 
he  went  athwart  the  religious  customs  of  the  New 
England  churches. 

When  the  government  of  the  colonies  passed  again 
into  the  hands  of  the  people,  the  former  customs  were 
restored.  Rhode  Island,  which  had  kept  the  days 
ordered  by  Andros,  lapsed  into  indifference,  and  the 
others  set  their  days  without  molestation.  The  pro- 
visional government  at  Boston  was  formed  April  20, 
1689,  and  during  their  subsequent  deliberations  it 
was  thought  best  to  have  a  fast  May  7,  but  upon 
consideration  the  order  was  "  stopped  from  going 
out."  However,  upon  May  10,  being  supported  in 
their  authority  by  the  town  delegates,  they  ventured 
to  appoint  May  16,  a  few  days  before  the  assem- 
bling of  the  second  convention.^  When  the  old  gov- 
ernment assumed  the  public  trusts,  they  ordered  a 
thanksgiving,  as  did  also  Plymouth  and  Connecticut, 
for  the  accession  of  William  and  Mary,  and  the  occa- 
sion was  a  happy  relief  from  their  embarrassment.^ 

So  matters  went  until  the  provincial  government 
was  set  up.  May  16,  1692.  One  of  the  first  acts  of 
Sir  William  Phips,  May  17,  was  to  order  that  the 

1  Mather  Papers,  MS.,  Boston  Pub.  Lib.  vii.  85;  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll., 
IV.  vol.  viii.  p.  709 ;  Archives  of  Mass.  :  MS.  Rec.  1689,  pp.  12,  18. 

2  June  27  in  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth,  June  26  in  Connecti- 
cut. See  Calendar.  Cotton  Mather  wrote  the  Massachusetts  procla- 
mation. 


THE   CONFLICT  OF  AUTHORITIES.        237 

fast  which  the  former  authorities  had  voted  May  6, 
be  kept  as  provided,  May  26.^  The  proclamation 
had  been  read  in  most  of  the  churches  the  day  after 
his  arrival,  two  days  before  his  act,  so  there  was 
little  else  to  be  done.  Yet  surely  he  would  not  have 
done  this  had  he  desired  to  make  any  issue  with  the 
churches.  For  several  years  thereafter  the  appoint- 
ments were  made  much  as  before.  The  order  some- 
times originated  with  the  representatives ;  upon  other 
occasions  they  concurred  in  the  vote  of  the  governor 
and  council,  who  issued  the  same  when  the  court  was 
not  in  session.2  We  fail  to  see,  what  some  have 
claimed,  any  specific  gubernatorial  assimiption,  but 
rather  a  tendency,  which  was  characteristic  of  the 
provincial  government,  toward  centralization  of  au- 
thority. The  fast  finally  became  the  governor's  fast,  / 
because,  with  the  downfall  of  the  ancient  theocratic 
order  of  things,  the  churches  lost  their  hold  upon  it. 
"  The  Congregational  ministers,"  says  Amos  Adams, 
"  were  considered  as  meer  laymen."  They  no  longer 
dominated  in  the  affairs  of  the  General  Court.     The 

^  Sir  William  Phips's  order  is  in  MS.  Coun.  Min.,  ii.  170.  Cf. 
Acts  and  Resolves,  vii.  459. 

2  The  appointments  during  the  first  four  years  of  the  provincial 
government  were  as  follows  :  (1)  T.  July  14,  1692.  (2)  F.  December 
29,  1692.  (3)  T.  February  23,  1692-3.  (4)  F.  July  20,  1693.  [MS. 
Coun.  Bee,  ii.  243  ;  Dor.  chh.  rec,  etc.]  (5)  T.  December  21,  1693. 
(6)  F.  April  19, 1694.  [Dor.  chh.  rec. ;  Brins.  Note-book.]  (7)  T.  No- 
vember 29,  1694.  [MS.  Coun.  Rec,  ii.  292  ;  Dor.  and  Salem  chh.  rec, 
etc.]  (8)  F.  December  13,  1694.  [Ihid.']  (9)  F,  April  25,  1695.  (10) 
F.  October  24,  1695.  [MS.  Coun.  Rec,  ii.  364 ;  Dor.  chh.  rec,  etc.] 
(11)  T.  January  16,  1695-6.  (12)  F.  April  2,  1696.  Of  these  4,  6,  7, 
8,  and  10  are  not  noted  in  Acts  and  Resolves,  vol.  vii.,  and  hence  the 
inferences,  that,  with  one  exception,  all  days  were  appointed  by  the 
Assembly  (p.  279),  and  that  there  was  only  one  fast  between  May, 
1692,  and  April,  1695  (p.  459),  are  incorrect.  Besides  these,  the 
church  fasts  of  1692  were  kept  at  the  desire  of  the  counciL 


238         FAST  AND  THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

proclamations  were  not  prepared  in  their  studies, 
though  one  or  another  of  them  may  have  been  con- 
sulted. So  their  days  of  fasting  and  thanksgiving, 
which  had  been  a  feature  of  the  theocracy,  passed  to 
a  new  stage  of  development. 


CHAPTER  XVn. 

THE    ANNUAL    SPRING     FAST    AND    THE    AUTUMN 
THANKSGIVING. 

1620-1694. 

The  English  origin  of  fast  and  thanksgiving  days, 
and  the  experiences  already  related,  establish  a  pre- 
sumption against  the  existence  of  the  annual  spring 
fast  and  autumn  thanksgiving  from  the  beginning  of 
the  New  England  colonies.  The  views  held  may  be 
summarized  as  follows:  (1.)  The  colonists  brought 
with  them  the  practice  of  occasional  appointments  for 
special  causes.  (2.)  These  days  were  named  by  the 
churches  as  well  as  the  civil  authorities.  (3.)  Their 
dependence  upon  a  propitious  seedtime  and  an  abim- 
dant  harvest  gradually  made  a  springtime  fast  and  an 
autumn  thanksgiving  prominent.  (4.)  The  custom 
of  rejoicing  over  the  ingathering,  illustrated  at  Ply- 
mouth in  1621,  attached  itself  to  the  wholly  religious 
Puritan  thanksgiving  day.  (5.)  The  appointment 
of  days  for  special  causes  continued,  being  coexistent, 
even  to  modern  times,  with  the  annual  spring  fast 
and  the  autumn  thanksgiving.  -^ 

We  have  now  before  us  the  question  when  these 
days  became  annual,  or  in  other  words,  when  did  the 
spring  fast  day  and  the  modern  thanksgiving  begin  ? 
There  are  those,  whose  reputation  as  historians  adds 
weight  to  their  opinions,  who  claim  that  these  seasons 


240         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

were  annual  from  the  first,  though  all  the  dates  have 
not  been  recovered.  This  view  prevailed  so  far  back 
as  1756,  when  it  was  thus  stated  by  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor Spencer  Phips  in  the  proclamation  for  thanks- 
giving, November  25 :  "  Whereas  it  has  been  the  laud- 
able and  uninterrupted  practice  of  the  people  of  this 
government,  from  the  first  settlement  of  the  Colony 
of  Massachusetts-Bay,  annually,  to  make  their  publick 
thankful  and  religious  acknowledgments,"  etc.  The 
historian  Hutchinson  also,  after  speaking  of  their 
occasional  days,  says,  "  They  constantly,  every  spring, 
appointed  a  day  for  fasting  and  prayer  to  implore  the 
divine  blessings  upon  their  affairs  in  the  ensuing  year, 
and  in  the  fall,  a  day  of  thanksgiving  and  public  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  favors  conferred  upon  them  in 
the  year  past.  ...  It  has  continued  without  interrup- 
tion, I  suppose,  in  any  one  instance,  down  to  this  day."  ^ 
A  similar  statement  may  be  found  in  Rev.  David 
Osgood's  thanksgiving  sermon  November  20,  1794. 
Probably  Hutchinson's  "  History  "  has  done  much  to 
propagate  this  opinion,  but  as  he  was  certainly  wrong 
in  supposing  the  practice  had  suffered  no  interruptions, 
we  may  infer  that  he  had  never  carefully  examined 
the  subject.  On  the  other  hand  we  may  bring  two 
eminent  witnesses  to  show  that  the  early  practice  was 
of  occasional  appointments,  both  of  whom  would  have 
mentioned  an  annual  observance  had  it  been  custom- 
ary. John  Cotton,  in  his  "  Way  of  the  Churches  of 
Christ  in  New  England,"  says  :  "  We  sometimes  upon 
extraordinary  occasions  either  of  notable  judgments 
do  set  apart  a  day  of  humiliation  or  upon  special  mer- 
cies we  set  apart  a  day  of  thanksgiving."  *^     Thomas 

1  Hutchinson's  Hist.,  i.  429.         ^  y^^y  of  the  Churches,  etc.,  p.  70. 


ANNUAL  APPOINTMENTS.  241 

Lecliford,  in  his  "  Plain  Dealing  or  News  from  New- 
England,"  says,  ''  There  are  dayes  of  fasting,  thanks- 
giving and  prayers  upon  occasions  but  no  holy  dayes, 
except  the  Sunday,"  a  remark  upon  which  his  own 
comment  is  conclusive  evidence,  "  And  why  not  set 
fasting  dayes  &>  times  and  set  feasts  ?  "  ^  The  former 
author  published  in  1G45,  the  latter  in  1642,  and  they 
establish  the  fact  that  in  Massachusetts,  at  least,  there 
was  then  no  annual  appointment. 

It  is  conceded  that  all  the  dates  during  the  colonial 
period  may  not  have  been  recovered.  The  Calendar, 
made  up  from  all  available  sources,  is  only  a  contri- 
bution toward  completeness.  Nevertheless  it  affords 
the  only  historical  basis  for  an  examination  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  is  sufficient  to  warrant  some  deductions  from 
it.  Furthermore  a  careful  study  of  ecclesiastical  ap- 
pointments shows  that,  in  the  absence  of  action  by 
the  General  Court  or  the  governor  and  council,  the 
churches  generally  may  have  set  a  day  in  the  spring 
or  autumn,  and  so  the  custom  may  date  much  further 
back  than  public  records  would  indicate.  For  this 
reason,  as  well  as  because  the  concurrent  keeping  of 
a  certain  day  by  several  churches  is  evidence  of  its 
public  appointment,  such  church  days  as  we  have  met 
with,  previous  to  the  year  1700,  have  been  included 
in  the  Calendar. 

The  reader's  attention  is  turned  first  to  the  older 
institution,  the  annual  thanksgiving  day  or  harvest 
festival^  to  determine  when  it  began.  By  the  phrase 
"  annual  thanksgiving  day,"  we  designate  a  day  ap- 
pointed every  year  in  the  autumn  or  early  winter  to 
commemorate  prominently  the  ingathering  of  the  har- 
1  Plain  Dealing,  ed.  1867,  p.  52. 


242        FAST  AND  THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

vest,  and  the  mercies  of  the  year  past.  Therefore  two 
elements  distinguish  it  from  special  thanksgivings,  — 
the  time  of  its  observance,  and  the  cause.  The  day 
cannot  always  be  identified  by  its  season,  for  there 
were  thanksgivings  in  the  autumn  which  were  not  dis- 
tinctively harvest  festivals,  and  there  were  harvest 
festivals  which  were  postponed  to  the  winter  season 
nearer  the  close  of  the  Old  Style  year.  A  thanksgiv- 
ing kept  at  any  time  after  the  earliest  harvest  to 
express  gratitude  to  God  on  that  account  or  acknow- 
ledge the  general  mercies  of  the  past  season,  would 
embody  the  idea  of  the  annual  thanksgiving  day. 

The  Plymouth  Colony  claims  the  honor  of  having 
originated  the  harvest  festival.  The  festival  week  of 
1621,  and  the  recurrence  of  thanksgiving  feasts,  may 
justify  this  claim ;  but  the  facts  which  are  most 
needed  in  tracing  this  development  in  the  Plymouth 
Colony  are  lacking.  Between  1623  and  1632  we 
have  no  hint  of  the  days  observed  and  their  causes, 
though  we  assume  that  they  had  such  on  occasion,  as 
before.  From  1632  on  to  1668  we  must  depend  upon 
the  data  furnished  by  church  records,  with  only  the 
law  of  1636,  committing  authority  to  the  governor  and 
assistants,  to  encourage  the  belief  that  public  days 
were  kept.  Yet  this  law  was  to  provide  for  occasions, 
and  not  for  an  annual  thanksgiving.  It  by  no  means 
proves,  as  some  have  argued,  an  annual  observance. 
On  the  contrary,  had  there  been  such,  by  public  ap- 
pomtment,  it  would  have  been  by  authority  of  the 
General  Court,  which  met  in  the  autumn ;  but  there 
is  no  reference  of  the  kind  in  their  records.  Some 
days  might  be  omitted,  but  it  is  hardly  possible  that 
all  would  be  for  thirty  years.     Furthermore,  the  cus- 


ANNUAL  APPOINTMENTS.  243 

torn  of  church  appointments  had  its  greatest  vitality 
in  Plymouth  Colony.  Ecclesiastical  independence  was 
a  feature  of  separatism.  After  public  days  became 
common,  the  authorities  did  not  ''  order,"  but  "  de- 
sired," "  proposed,"  or  "  recommended  "  the  same  to 
the  churches.  The  church  records  and  public  procla- 
mations both  reveal  this  preeminence  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal authority  and  practice.  This  accounts  for  so  many 
church  days  for  public  causes.  It  explains  the  action 
of  the  court  in  recommending  occasions  to  other 
churches  or  counties  when  some  had  already  kept 
them.  So  the  conclusion  is,  that  though  there  was  no 
civil  appointment  of  the  harvest  festival  in  Plymouth 
Colony  previous  to  1668,  the  same  may  have  been  cus- 
tomary in  the  several  commimities.  The  Scituate  and 
Barnstable  church  records,  on  the  other  hand,  show 
that  with  them  so  early  as  1636  the  idea  of  a  thanks- 
giving with  the  feast  —  a  feature  of  the  separatist 
church  life — was  an  accepted  custom.  As  already 
set  forth,  they  kept  such  December  22,  1636,  October 
12,  1637,  and  December  11,  1639.  These  dates  are 
neither  earlier  nor  later  in  the  season  than  those  com- 
monly fixed  upon. 

The  first  thanksgiving  proclamation  found  in  the 
Plymouth  Colony  Records  making  mention  of  the 
harvest  is  in  1668.  The  words  are :  "  It  hath  pleased 
God  in  some  comfortable  measure  to  blesse  vs  in  the 
fruites  of  the  earth."  November  25  was  the  day 
appointed,  and  it  was  clearly  a  harvest  thanksgiving. 
From  that  time  on  to  1692,  other  such  days  are  men- 
tioned, and  the  writer  of  the  Plymouth  church  records 
in  1697  made  this  marginal  note:  "In  these  30  years 
past  were  observed  amongst  us  many  dayes  of  Humil- 


244         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

iation  and  Thanksgiving  ordered  by  Authority  which 
are  not  here  particularly  made  mention  of."  This 
note  takes  us  back  to  1668,  and  prepares  us  to  take 
the  practice  of  the  Plymouth  church  as  indicative  of 
the  general  custom.^  In  1678  there  is  good  evidence 
that  this  mother  church  was  then  observing  an  annual 
thanksgiving  day,  usually  in  the  autumn,  for  the  har- 
vest and  blessings  of  the  year  past.  That  year  the 
day  was  November  6,  for  the  "  good  harvest."  In 
1679  it  was  put  off  on  account  of  the  reformation 
movement,  but  "  the  church  set  apart  February  25  to 
be  kept  as  a  day  of  Thanksgiving  publicly  for  all  the 
mercies  of  the  yeare  spiritual!  and  temporall."  These 
days  were  set  by  the  church,  but  in  1680,  October  20 
was  appointed  by  the  court.  In  1681  no  day  was  set 
by  the  church,  but  one  probably  was  by  the  court  or 
governor  and  assistants.  In  1682  December  1  was 
kept  by  authority  of  the  church  "  for  aU  the  mercies  of 
the  year."  Here,  then,  we  find  the  working  of  a  two- 
fold source  of  thanksgiving  appointments,  which,  with 
interruptions  for  special  cause,  as  during  King  Phil- 
ip's war,  we  conclude  was  in  operation  back  to  1668, 
and  preserved  an  annual  custom. 

As  to  Pl3rmouth  Colony,  then,  the  conclusion  is, 
that  some  time  previous  to  1636  the  idea  of  a  thanks- 
giving with  a  feast  was  current  among  the  churches ; 
that  they  generally  kept  it  for  thirty  years  as  most 
convenient  in  their  several  communities  ;  and  that 
thereafter,  down  to  the  union  with  Massachusetts,  the 
same  was  appointed  annually,  with  interruptions, 
either  by  civil  or  church  authority.  It  was  therefore 
a  development,  which  their  experiences  encouraged 
and  the  social  advantages  of  the  occasion  fostered. 

^  PljrmoTith  clmpch  records,  Pilgrim  Hall,  Plymouth. 


'     ANNUAL  APPOINTMENTS,  245 

We  turn  next  to  Connecticut.  It  should  be  con- 
ceded that,  in  some  respects,  a  more  liberal  spirit  pre- 
vailed in  Connecticut  than  in  the  other  New  England 
colonies.  Among  other  things,  there  was  not  that 
jealousy  of  civil  authority  in  ecclesiastical  matters,  so 
the  power  to  appoint  fast  and  thanksgiving  days  was 
at  an  early  date  generally  surrendered  to  the  gov- 
ernment. The  churches  were  satisfied  to  leave  such 
days  to  the  discretion  of  their  rulers.  There  was  also 
a  notable  absence  of  that  extreme  morbid  sentiment, 
which  at  times  set  aside  thanksgivings  in  other  quar- 
ters. It  is  characteristic  of  old  Connecticut  procla- 
mations that  even  in  distressing  times  many  causes 
for  gratitude  are  enumerated.  These  are  in  part  the 
reasons  why  the  calendar  of  Connecticut  days  is 
more  complete.  Their  practice  was  more  continuous. 
Though  Plymouth  may  have  been  before  it  in  origi- 
nating the  harvest  festival,  Connecticut  by  its  civil 
authority  and  religious  constancy  preserved  and  per- 
petuated it.  Long  before  the  breaking  out  of  King 
Philip's  war  the  annual  thanksgiving  was  a  recognized 
institution  in  the  colony.  In  the  decade  from  1660  to 
1670  we' have  recovered  every  date,  the  earliest  being 
October  23  and  the  latest  November  30.  Every  order 
or  proclamation  has  such  phrases  as  these :  "  year 
past,"  ''  blessings  in  the  fruits  of  the  year,"  "  fruits  of 
the  fields  and  of  the  trees,"  and  "  fruits  of  the  earth." 
Working  backward,  in  tracing  the  custom,  from  1660 
we  find  similar  or  general  terms  wherever  a  proclama- 
tion is  known  ;  and,  with  one  exception,  the  dates  are 
given  back  to  1649,  the  earliest  being  September  18, 
and  the  latest  December  19.  The  exception  was 
1654,  in  which  year  the  day  was  appointed  and  then 


246         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

put  off ;  but  it  was  certainly  kept  between  October 
19  and  November  20,  as  an  item  in  the  Wolcott 
Ledger  proves.  So  early  as  1649  the  phrase  "  year 
past "  was  in  use.  Back  of  that  date  we  have  recovered 
only  two  thanksgivings  proclaimed  by  the  civil  author- 
ities :  that  of  1644,  the  order  for  which  is  not  given 
in  the  records,  and  the  notable  one  of  September  18, 
1639,  — as  we  think,  the  first  so  ordered.  However, 
the  churches  kept  days  from  the  settlement  of  the 
colony,  and  by  agreement  may  have  kept  the  same  day 
between  1639  and  1649.  When  it  is  remembered 
that  the  calendar  thus  takes  us  back  to  within  a  few 
years  of  John  Cotton's  and  Thomas  Lechford's  testi- 
mony, we  may  regard  the  result  as  quite  definite. 

As  to  Connecticut  Colony,  then,  the  conclusion  is, 
that  about  1649  the  Pilgrims'  idea  of  a  harvest 
thanksgiving  became  an  accepted  custom,  and  from 
that  time  one  was  ordered  by  civil  authority  annu- 
ally within  its  jurisdiction.^  This  yearly  festival,  as 
now  appointed  by  the  several  States,  is  certainly  a 
Connecticut  institution. 

It  remains  to  examine  the  practice  in  Massachu- 
setts, which  in  due  time  was  followed  by  New  Hamp- 
shire. Here  we  have  far  greater  facilities  for  the 
recovery  of  the  facts  from  public  records  in  print 
and  manuscript,  proclamations,  sermons,  and  diaries. 
Though  we  may  be  more  certain  of  having  a  large 
proportion  of  the  dates  back  of   1692,  the  calendar 

^  "  Connecticut  people,  though  just  as  pious  and  as  prosperous  as 
the  Bay  colonists,  do  not  appear  to  have  been  as  grateful,  and  had 
considerable  trouble  at  times  to  '  pick  vppon  a  day  '  for  thanksgiv- 
ing ;  and  the  festival  was  not  regularly  observed  there  till  1716  " 
{Customs  and  Fashions,  etc.,  p.  220 :  Alice  Morse  Earle).  This  is  an 
astonishing  paragraph,  and  only  about  sixty-seven  years  wrong. 


ANNUAL  APPOINTMENTS,  247 

shows  many  blanks.  One  fact  is  undeniable,  that  the 
Puritans  of  the  Bay  Colony  were  firm  believers  in 
the  system  of  occasional  appointments  prevailing  in 
England.  They  judged  the  matter  from  a  theologi- 
cal point  of  view,  and  with  characteristic  intelligence. 
Their  thanksgivings  were  for  notable  causes,  and  ex- 
hibit a  greater  breadth  of  information  on  pubUc  af- 
fairs. So  late  as  1685  we  find  Judge  Sewall  arguing 
that  "  't  was  not  fit  upon  meer  Generals,  as  (the 
Mercies  of  the  year)  to  Comand  a  Thanksgiving."  ^ 
He  was  not  alone  in  this  opinion.  The  ministers  of 
Massachusetts  generally,  the  most  intelligent  body  of 
men  in  New  England,  placed  great  stress  upon  the 
particular  causes  for  thanksgiving,  as  their  diaries 
prove.  Furthermore,  upon  repeated  occasions,  when 
the  circimistances  were  more  suitable  for  a  fast  day, 
the  thanksgiving  is  known  to  have  been  omitted  or 
postponed.  Such  was  the  case  in  1675  on  account  of 
the  war,  and  in  1679  on  account  of  the  reformation. 
Sometimes  there  was  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
what  was  suitable,  as  in  1690,  when  Sewall  says,  "  Mr. 
Torrey  is  for  a  Fast  or  at  least  a  Fast  first.  Mr. 
Willard  for  a  Thanksgiving  first.  Mr.  Torrey  fears 
lest  a  Thanksgiving  should  tend  to  harden  people  in 
their  carnal  confidence."  The  f asters  carried  the  day, 
and  the  thanksgiving  was  put  off  to  February  26, 
1690-1.2      There  are    years,   in  which  no  date   has 

1  Sewall's  Diary,  i.  106. 

2  Ihid.,  i.  336.  The  following-  extract  from  Publick  Occurrences,  under 
date  September  25,  1690,  was  designed  as  a  reproof  for  the  f asters  : 
"  The  Christianized  Indians  in  some  parts  of  Plimouth  have  newly 
appointed  a  day  of  Thanksgiving  to  God  for  his  mercy  in  supplying 
their  extream  and  pinching  Necessities  under  their  late  want  of  Corn, 
and  for  His  giving  them  now  a  prospect  of  a  very  Comfortable  Har- 
vest.    Their  example  may  be  worth  mentioning." 


248         FAST  AND  THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

been  recovered,  when  the  circumstances  and  the  0C5- 
currence  of  a  fast  encourage  the  belief  that  there  was 
no  public  thanksgiving.  On  the  other  hand  it  is  cer- 
tain that  some  churches  kept  thanksgivings  when  the 
civil  authorities  issued  no  proclamation,^  and  that  the 
governor  and  council  made  frequent  appointments. 

Notwithstanding  this  intermittent  tendency  and  the 
feeling  that  there  should  be  some  cause  other  than 
mere  generals,  it  seems  that  they  had  autumn  thanks- 
givings, in  which  the  harvest  was  recognized,  almost 
every  year  after  about  1660.  In  1662  November  5 
was  kept,  among  other  reasons,  "  for  giveing  unto  us 
such  a  portion  of  y®  f  ruts  of  y®  earth  in  o'  late  har- 
vests." ^  Back  of  this  we  meet  with  only  a  few  such 
days,  as  December  8,  1659,  to  acknowledge  "  y®  gra- 
cious retorne  of  o'  prayers  put  up  unto  him  in  y®  wett 
spring  by  giveing  us  a  seasonable  seed-time  &  har- 
vest," ^  and  November  5,  1656,  for  "  the  plenty  and 
aboundance  of  the  blessings  of  the  earth."  ^  Yet  even 
in  these  instances  there  were  special  causes.  In  1648 
the  court  left  the  appointment  to  the  assistants,  "  if 
they  shall  see  cause." 

As  to  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  then,  the  con- 
clusion is,  that,  with  more  frequent  interruptions,  the 
autumn  thanksgiving  was  usual  after  about  1660,  but 
its  annual  and  harvest  features  were  overshadowed  by 
the  prevailing  systems  of  occasional  appointments. 

1  The  Salem  church  records  inform  us  as  to  1G68  that  "  the  General 
Court  in  the  8th  month  "  did  not  appoint  '*  any  public  days  of  Thanks- 
giving or  Fasting  and  prayer  as  formerly."  This  church  therefore 
set  December  23  for  a  fast,  and  January  14,  1668-9,  as  a  thanks- 
giving "  with  respect  unto  the  mercies  of  the  year  past,"  etc.  —  N.  E, 
Cong.:  Salem  chh.  rec,  p.  75. 

2  Dor.  chh.  rec,  p.  40.  »  Ihid.,  p.  32. 
*  Mass.  Col.  Rec.y  iv.  pt.  1.  p.  279. 


ANNUAL  APPOINTMENTS,  249 

It  is  difficult  to  trace  the  history  of  a  custom,  for  it 
is  developed  gradually.  The  annual  harvest  thanks- 
giving is  no  exception.  Its  beginning  cannot  be  set 
on  any  particidar  date.  At  first  the  exceptional  har- 
vest called  it  forth.  Every  year  of  blessings  encour- 
aged it.  The  religious  and  social  advantages  of  the 
day  grew  in  favor.  So  it  was  after  a  time  generally 
accepted.  In  Plymouth  it  may  have  retained  longer 
the  community  character  which  their  ecclesiastical 
traditions  had  given  to  it ;  in  Massachusetts  it  may 
have  been  less  prominent  because  of  their  Puritan 
heritage ;  in  Connecticut  it  may  have  taken  on  earlier 
the  continuity  of  a  civil  institution ;  but  in  all  these 
colonies,  settled  by  the  same  people  and  in  con- 
stant intercourse  with  one  another,  the  custom  was 
very  much  the  same  in  its  practical  observance  within 
the  meeting-house  and  in  the  home.  And,  making  all 
allowance  for  unrecovered  facts,  this  institution,  now 
national,  can  be  traced  back  to  a  general  adoption 
about  forty  years  after  the  memorable  harvest  feast 
of  the  Pilgrims. 

The  question  to  which  we  next  turn  is.  When  did 
the  annual  spring  fast  day  begin  ?  This  day  must  be 
defined  as  a  fast  of  annual  observance  in  the  spring  to 
seek  divine  favor  upon  the  undertakings  of  the  year, 
and  especially  upon  the  planting  of  the  fields.  It  is 
distinguished  from  the  special  fast  both  by  the  time 
and  the  cause. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  repeat  our  observations  as  to 
the  Puritan  prejudices  against  Lent.  The  keeping  of 
Good  Friday  was  altogether  obnoxious  to  our  fore- 
fathers, and  there  was  no  considerable  change  of  sen- 
timent until  after  the  Eevolutionary  War.      The  fast 


250         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DA  YS, 

day  of  the  Pilgrims  was  a  cry  of  distress  raised  to  God, 
and  therefore  a  special  cause  was  essential  to  it.  But 
after  years  they  found  they  were  in  new  conditions. 
The  beginning  of  their  Old  Style  year,  the  planting  of 
their  fields,  the  end  of  their  long  winters,  the  incoming 
of  ships  with  foreign  news,  and  the  reflex  influence  of 
their  annual  thanksgiving,  —  these  all  tended  toward 
the  adoption  of  a  springtime  fast  day. 

We  find  no  evidence  that  an  annual  spring  fast  was 
observed  in  the  Plymouth  Colony  previous  to  King 
Philip's  War.  The  Colonial  Records  mention  certain 
days,  but  they  were  for  special  reasons.  Indeed,  the 
absence  of  appointments  by  the  General  Court  conven- 
ing in  March  is  good  evidence  that  no  such  custom 
existed.  The  Scituate  and  Barnstable  church  records, 
covering  a  period  from  1634  to  1653,  give  us  presum- 
ably a  fairly  complete  fist  of  their  fast  days  ;  and  in 
only  two  instances  is  the  season  of  the  year  an  item, 
April  7, 1636,  "  in  respect  of  present  outward  scarcity," 
and  June  10,  1641,  "  in  regard  of  y®  wett  &  very  cold 
spring,"  both  showing  special  cause.  The  Plymouth 
church  records  show  no  trace  of  such  a  custom  during 
this  period.  However,  from  1675  on  to  1692,  spring 
fasts,  sometimes  by  ecclesiastical  and  sometimes  by 
civil  appointment,  are  frequent ;  and  allowing  for 
omissions  the  custom  may  be  said  to  have  been 
adopted,  especially  as  we  meet  with  the  recognition  of 
a  "  continuance  of  mercies,"  and  the  "  mercies  of  the 
year"  in  the  proclamations.  In  1697  the  Plymouth 
church  had  appointed  a  spring  fast,  but  gave  way  for 
that  ordered  by  the  government,  a  fact  which  argues 
against  a  long-established  custom  of  civil  appoint- 
ments in  either  Massachusetts  or  Plymouth.     After 


ANNUAL  APPOINTMENTS.  251 

the  union  with  Massachusetts  the  day  shared  her 
fortunes. 

As  to  Connecticut  Colony,  we  reach  most  definite 
conclusions.  There  we  believe  the  annual  fast  day 
was  first  established,  if  not  also  conceived.  The  cal- 
endar shows  frequent  spring  fasts  back  to  1659,  some- 
times kept  as  late  as  June.  June  29,  1659,  was  a 
fast  "  partly  for  the  season."  In  1661  April  3  was 
appointed  "  to  seek  favour  of  God  in  y®  occasions  of 
y®  insueing  yeare ; "  and  thereafter  we  note  similar 
expressions  in  every  proclamation  known,  as  for  exam- 
ple, "  bless  the  fruits  of  the  earth,"  "  blessed  with  a 
seasonable  seedtime,"  ^'  smile  upon  us  in  the  season." 
These  were  all  by  civil  appointment,  and  probably  such 
as  are  missing  were  kept  by  the  same  authority. 

The  question  which  has  excited  the  greatest  interest 
is  when  the  annual  fast  day  began  in  Massachu- 
setts. As  to  this,  various  opinions  have  been  advo- 
cated. Some  have  claimed  that  the  practice  prevailed 
from  earliest  times.  The  proclamations  have  perpetu- 
ated this  belief,  and  it  has  been  a  cherished  tradition 
among  the  people.  Some  have  more  carefully  ex- 
amined the  subject,  but  have  based  their  conclusions 
upon  the  occurrence  of  fasts  in  the  springtime  without 
regard  to  the  causes,  which  were  special,  having  no 
reference  to  the  seed-sowing  or  the  beginning  of  the 
year.  Some  have  drawn  their  deductions  from  a  very 
imperfect  calendar,  made  up  from  the  Colonial  Re- 
cords alone,  and  so  have  been  led  to  think  that  the 
custom  was  not  established  until  some  years  after  the 
erection  of  the  provincial  government.  Some  have, 
with  some  reason,  attributed  it  to  the  authority  of  the 
provincial  governor  himself.      Obviously,  the  correct 


252         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

answer  must  be  supported  by  a  minute  study  of  the 
proclamations,  and  a  carefully  prepared  calendar  of 
the  days  observed.  By  this  method  the  field  has  been 
narrowed  to  a  single  decade,  from  1684  to  1694.  On 
the  one  hand  it  is  established  that  there  was  no  an- 
nual spring  fast  during  the  colonial  period  of  Massa- 
chusetts history,  and  on  the  other  the  calendar  proves 
that  such  a  day  has  been  observed  since  the  latter 
date.  The  conclusion  is,  that  the  custom  came  in 
during  that  troubled  and  changeful  decade  of  history. 
The  Dorchester  church  records  have  this  entry  in 
1694:  ''Aprilly®  19  94  ther  was  a  publick  day  of 
humiliacon  Apinted  by  the  Governer  and  counsell  to 
be  kept  in  all  our  coUones  for  to  seeke  god  in  the 
behalf  of  ouer  self es  and  god  people  A  Broad  and 
that  the  lord  woidd  B[l]ese  the  kings  majesty  and 
prosper  his  great  undertaking  this  year :  and  y*  y®  lord 
crown  this  year  with  his  Blesing  and  for  the  Rising 
genaracon  that  god  power  forth  his  spiritt  upon  tham 
and  y*  he  wold  continue  ouer  present  pease."  ^  We 
have  nowhere  found  any  public  record  of  this  day,  or 
proclamation  therefor  ;  but  the  fact  is  supported  by 
the  Brinsmead  Note-book,  and  a  manuscript  sermon 
in  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  preached  by 
Cotton  Mather  on  that  day.  It  was  evidently  a  spring 
fast,  and  a  fair  type  of  a  long  line  of  successors.  In 
1693  we  find  no  notice  of  such  a  day  in  public  records, 
and  none  is  mentioned  in  the  above  church  records  or 
Increase  Mather's  diary.  Other  authorities  also  are 
silent.  In  New  Hampshire  May  23  was  appointed, 
and  in  Plymouth  the  church  kept  May  24  to  seek 
the  blessings   of  the  year.      In   1692   May  26  was 

^  Dop.  chh.  rec,  p.  107. 


ANNUAL  APPOINTMENTS.  263 

a  fast,  but  for  special  cause,  the  witchcraft  troubles, 
and  this  was  the  one  proposed  by  the  ''  late  govern- 
ment" and  reappointed  by  Sir  WiUiam  Phips.  In 
1691  May  7  was  a  fast,  but,  as  the  broadside  pro- 
clamation shows,  it  had  no  reference  to  the  season  of 
the  year.  So,  tracing  the  subject  back  through  this 
decade,  we  find  no  other  than  special  fasts  after  the 
ancient  custom. 

Furthermore  there  is  evidence  of  some  discussion  in 
regard  to  fasts  at  this  time.  The  ministerial  procla- 
mation had  become  unpopular  with  the  government, 
and  we  suspect  that  Cotton  Mather's  were,  in  more 
than  one  well-known  mstance,  rejected.  A  draft  of 
his  for  July  10,  1690,  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
adopted.  That  was  the  year  when  there  was  a  differ- 
ence of  opinion  as  to  whether  a  fast  was  more  suitable 
than  a  thanksgiving.  In  1692  the  trouble  regarding 
the  witchcraft  fasts  hereafter  detailed  came  on.  Some 
of  the  ministers  wanted  a  fast  which  the  governor 
and  council  would  not  have,  and  it  is  only  shortly 
afterward,  in  1696,  that  we  find  the  latter  claim- 
ing the  authority  to  move  in  such  matters.  On  the 
21st  of  September,  1694,  the  House  voted  to  propose 
to  the  Governor  and  Council  "  y*  a  Sett  day  sometyme 
in  Octob'^  next  be  appointed  to  be  solemnized  as  a  day 
of  Giveing  thanks  to  God  for  his  Enumerated  Mercys 
of  the  y'  past,  alsoe  y*  a  day  of  solemn  ffast  be  ap- 
pointed some  sett  day  in  Novemb'  next  to  have  a 
Humble  sence  of  his  Awfull  dispensations  etc."  ^ 
Whatever  interpretation  is  put  upon  this  desire  for  a 
"  sett  day,"  it  shows  a  preference  for  a  time  for  the  fast 
sometimes  chosen  in  earUer  days  both  in  Massaehu- 
^  State  Archives :  Ecc,^  xi.  81. 


254         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

setts  and  Connecticut.  Out  of  all  these  difficulties 
the  way  was  found  in  the  adoption  of  a  stated  spring 
fast.  To  be  sure,  it  was  the  tendency  of  the  time,  but 
the  governor  would  not  have  made  an  issue  on  the  sub- 
ject had  his  friends,  notably  the  Mathers,  been  op- 
posed to  it.  It  is  enough  to  know  that  there  was  a 
"  pulling  and  hauling  "  about  fasts,  and  a  new  system 
was  the  natural  outcome.  Then,  too,  there  were  vaUd 
arguments  for  it.  Their  own  practice  as  to  the 
autumn  thanksgiving  favored  it.  They  must  have 
known  the  working  of  the  custom  in  Connecticut.  It 
was  the  beginning  of  their  year,  the  time  of  seed-sow- 
ing, and  the  opening  of  communication  after  the  win- 
ter. But,  more  than  all,  the  colony  of  Plymouth  was 
no  more,  and  its  representatives  were  exercising  their 
very  modest  influence  among  their  neighbors.  They 
had  adopted  the.  spring  fast  and  found  it  convenient 
for  their  purposes.  It  did  not  interfere  with  their 
special  fasts,  and  the  ancient  tradition  of  objection  to 
stated  humiliation  about  the  time  of  Lent  was  worn 
out.  So  the  spring  fast  came  in  naturally,  and  by  the 
help  of  circumstances  which  alone  could  have  accom- 
plished the  introduction  of  it.  From  the  first  it  took 
on  a  general  character  which  the  special  fast  did  not 
have.^  The  ensuing  year  became  its  theme,  and  the 
proclamation  detailed  prospective  hopes  rather  than  a 
present  necessity.  It  was  not  only  different  in  its  mo- 
tive from  their  ancient  fast,  it  was  hostile  to  it,  work- 
ing against  it  in  the  course  of  time,  as  it  grew  in 
importance  and  gathered  in  the  occasions  of  the  year. 
The  honored  fast  of  the  fathers  laid  an  immediate  bur- 
den of  desire  upon  the  people ;  it  was  specific,  and  the 
1  The  Puritan  A^e  in  Mass.,  Ellis,  p.  160. 


ANNUAL  APPOINTMENTS,  255 

feeling  it  aroused  was  most  intense.  Its  vitality  de- 
pended upon  its  harmony  with  Puritan  doctrine  and 
life.  It  came  through  the  ministers  from  the  people 
themselves.  A  theme  for  discourse  was  thrust  upon 
the  preacher  by  the  circumstances  which  convened  the 
congregation.  The  annual  fast  tended  to  dissipate  these 
interests,  and  the  more  general  the  causes  for  humilia- 
tion were,  the  less  of  fervor,  sincerity,  and  devotion 
was  fostered  in  the  services  of  the  day.  So  far  from 
its  being  true,  as  successive  springtime  proclamations 
in  Massachusetts  have  declared,  that  the  annual  fast 
has  come  down  to  them  from  the  earliest  times,  it  is 
altogether  certain  that  it  is  a  day  which,  even  at  its 
best  estate,  the  colonial  fathers,  in  their  intelligence 
and  piety  as  Puritans,  would  not  have  tolerated.  Con- 
necticut conceived  and  practiced  the  custom,  largely 
because  it  was  most  convenient  for  her  springtime 
General  Court  so  to  appoint  it,  but  she  finally  laid  it 
aside  for  the  Good  Friday  fast.  It  is  not  the  honor  of 
Massachusetts  that  she  originated  it,  but  rather  that 
she  held  out  longest  against  it,  in  her  devotion  to  the 
older  Puritan  doctrine  and  custom. 


CHAPTER  XVin. 

THE   WITCHCRAFT   FASTS, 

1692-1696. 

The  year  1692,  the  first  of  the  provincial  govern- 
ment, will  ever  be  memorable  on  account  of  the  witch- 
craft delusion.  It  would  be  expected  that  an  evil  so 
intimately  connected  with  ecclesiastical  affairs  would 
call  forth  frequent  public  fasts ;  but  such  was  not  the 
case.  Churches  fasted  here  and  there,  especially  in 
August  before  and  after  the  executions  which  happened 
upon  the  19th.  The  Dorchester  church  records  tell 
us  that  this  was  at  the  desire  of  the  council.^  We 
know  of  only  one  public  fast  in  Massachusetts  before 
that  date  having  reference  to  witchcraft,  and  after  the 
storm  passed  the  subject  was  unpleasant  to  some,  who 
had  been  conspicuous  in  it,  and  such  diverse  opinions 
were  held  by  the  ministers  that  it  was  designedly  kept 
in  the  background  until  the  time  of  reckoning  in  1696. 

It  was  the  end  of  February,  1691,  when  the  witch- 
craft broke  out  in  the  family  of  Rev.  Samuel  Parris, 
minister  of  Salem  Village.  His  responsibility  for  the 
prosecutions  has  never  been  disputed.  Two  of  the 
first  accusers  were  members  of  his  family,  children, 
both  of  them.  They  charged  Sarah  Osburn  and 
"  Tituba  Indian "  with  bewitching  them,  the  latter 
being  a  servant  in  the  minister's  family.     The  warrant 

1  Dor.  chh.  rec.,  p.  105 ;  Salem  chh.  rec,  p.  96. 


THE   WITCHCRAFT  FASTS.  257 

was  issued  Monday,  February  29,  and  the  examination 
was  the  next  day.  Calef  says,  ''  They  that  were  con- 
cerned applied  themselves  to  fasting  and  prayer  which 
was  attended  not  only  in  their  own  private  families, 
but  with  calling  in  the  help  of  others."  i  Eev.  John 
Hale,  of  Beverly,  corroborates  the  statement  in  these 
words :  "  Soon  after  this  [the  examination]  there  were 
two  or  three  private  fasts  at  the  minister's  house,  one 
of  which  was  kept  by  sundry  neighbor  ministers  and 
after  this  another  in  publick  at  the  village,  and  sev- 
eral days  afterwards  of  publick  himiiliation  during 
these  molestations,  not  only  there  but  in  other  Congre- 
gations for  them."  ^  Doubtless  these  private  fasts 
were  in  connection  with  the  several  examinations, 
March  3,  5,  and  7,  for  it  was  upon  the  11th  that  the 
several  neighboring  ministers  met  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
Parris  "  to  join  with  him  in  keeping  a  solemn  day  of 
prayer."  Noyes,  of  Salem,  and  Hale,  of  Beverly,  were 
probably  of  the  nimaber.  The  exercises  customary  on 
such  occasions  were  the  reading  of  sermons  and 
lengthened  prayers,  and  this  was  intended  at  that  time 
as  a  trial  of  the  evil  spirits  of  the  bewitched,  much 
after  the  manner  practiced  by  Cotton  Mather  with  the 
Goodwin  family.  It  was  therefore  noted  that  those 
persons  were  for  the  most  part  silent  during  the  exer- 
cises, but  "  after  any  one  prayer  was  ended  they  would 
act  and  speak  strangely  and  ridiculously,"  and  one 
"  would  sometimes  seem  to  be  in  a  convulsion  fit,  her 
limbs  being  twisted  several  ways  and  very  stiff  but 
presently  her  fit  would  be  over."  ^     Such  was  the  use 

1  Salem  Witchcraft,  Fowler,  p.  224. 

2  Modest  Enquiry  into  the  Nature  of  Witchcrafi^  pp.  25,  26. 
8  Salem  Witchcraft,  Fowler,  p.  225. 


258         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

they  put  that  fast  day  to,  and  it  had  much  to  do  with 
what  followed.  The  extant  manuscript  sermons  of  Mr. 
Parris,  in  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society,  prove  by 
their  references  that  his  reading  about  that  time  had 
been  from  sundry  authors  who  believed  in  witchcraft, 
such  as  Cotton  Mather  consulted.  We  even  venture 
to  say  that  he  owned  the  second  impression  of  Mather's 
"Memorable  Providences  relating  to  Witchcrafts," 
and  had  been  much  moved  by  reading  it.  It  would 
be  possible  on  such  a  private  fast,  in  the  presence  of 
the  suspected  victims,  to  kindle  a  fanatical  fervency 
which  would  carry  many  sincere  people  to  dangerous 
lengths.  About  two  weeks  after  this,  several  having 
been  committed  to  jail  meanwhile,  on  a  sacramental 
Sunday,  March  27,  Mr.  Parris  preached  a  sermon  from 
the  text,  "  Have  not  I  chosen  you  twelve,  and  one  of 
you  is  a  devil?"  John  vi.  70,  the  proposition  of 
which  was,  "  Christ  knows  how  many  Devils  there  are 
in  his  church  and  who  they  are."i  Sarah  Cloyse, 
a  sister  of  one  of  the  accused,  can  be  pardoned  for  go- 
ing out  of  the  meeting-house  and  slamming  the  door. 
Upham  relates  other  interesting  doings  of  that  day, 
but  thus  much  is  cited  in  order  to  place  that  private 
fast  at  the  beginning  of  this  most  horrible  episode 
of  New  England  history  in  its  proper  light.  It 
illustrates  the  influence  of  the  ministers  over  their 
flocks  and  how  they  used  it.     These  three  ministers, 

^  MS.  Sermons,  Conn.  Hist.  Soc.  The  followingr  note  prefaces  this 
serraon  :  "  Occasioned  by  y©  dreadful  witchcraft  broke  out  here  a  few 
weeks  past,  and  one  member  of  this  church  and  another  of  Salem 
upon  publick  examination  by  civil  authority  vehemently  suspected  for 
shee-witches  and  upon  it  committed."  —  Upham's  Salem  Witcha-qfl,  ed. 
1867,  ii.  92-94.  Hutchinson's  Hist,  ii.  26,  following  Calef  in  Salem 
Witchcraft,  p.  231,  gives  this  date  erroneously  as  April  3. 


THE  WITCHCRAFT  FASTS.  259 

under  the  patronage  of  Cotton  Mather,  were  respon- 
sible in  large  part,  we  believe,  for  the  kindling  of 
the  excitement  which  followed.  Brattle  tells  us  in  a 
letter  that  excepting  these  "  the  reverend  elders  al- 
most throughout  the  whole  country  were  [are]  very 
much  dissatisfied  "  with  the  court.  Four  days  after 
the  above  preaching  by  Mr.  Parris,  the  church  in 
Salem  kept  a  fast  day  on  account  of  the  witchcraft. 
Other  neighboring  churches  did  the  same,  and  perhaps 
repeatedly ;  but  there  was  as  yet  no  general  demand 
sufficient  to  call  forth  a  public  fast.  Mr.  Parris  fol- 
lowed up  liis  sacramental  theme  upon  the  next  occa- 
sion, May  8,  when  he  discoursed  on  the  text,  "  Ye  can- 
not drink  the  cup  of  the  Lord,  and  the  cup  of  devils," 
1  Cor.  X.  21.^  He  seems  to  have  believed  the  charge, 
which  had  been  brought  out  in  the  examination,  that 
the  witches  held  sacramental  seasons  and  kept  fast 
and  thanksgiving  days  by  themselves.^  If  this  preach- 
ing is  to  be  considered,  they  had  surely  some  reason 
for  doing  so.  And  it  seems  to  have  been  the  order 
of  the  day,  for  September  11,  two  days  after  the  exe- 
cution of  six,  one  of  whom  was  a  member  of  his  own 
church,  this  divine  preached  from  Rev.  xvii.  14, 
''  These  shall  make  war  with  the  Lamb,  and  the  Lamb 
shall  overcome  them."  Such  discoui^ses  were  not  cal- 
culated to  allay  the  excitement,  and  they  show,  better 
than  any  philosophical  analysis,  what  was  the  origin  of 
the  fanaticism. 

^  MS.  Sermons. 

2  ' '  They  were  accused  by  the  sufferers  to  keep  days  of  hellish  fasts 
and  thanks^vings,  and,  upon  one  of  these  fast  days  they  told  a  suf- 
ferer she  must  not  eat,  it  was  a  fast  day.  She  said  she  would.  They 
told  her  they  would  choke  her  then,  which,  when  she  did  eat  was  en- 
deavored." —  Deodat  Lawson's  Narrative j  appended  to  his  sermon,  ed. 
1704,  London. 


260         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

Eev.  John  Hale,  in  his  "  Modest  Enquiry  into  the 
Nature  of  Witchcraft,"  and  Cotton  Mather  also,  in 
the  "  Magnalia,"  refer  to  "  one  general  Fast  by  order  of 
the  General  Court "  which  was  "  observed  throughout 
the  Colony  to  seek  the  Lord  that  he  would  rebuke 
Satan  &  be  a  light  unto  his  people  in  this  day  of 
darkness."  That  day  was  May  26,  already  referred 
to  as  the  first  public  fast  under  the  new  charter.^  It 
was  after  many  committals  and  before  any  executions. 
Obviously  it  was  a  critical  time,  and  an  interesting 
question  is  raised,  —  What  effect  did  the  keeping  of 
that  day  have  upon  the  subsequent  developments  ? 
Sermons  were  of  course  preached  everywhere,  having 
this  special. reference.  If  we  had  them  all  before  us, 
it  would  probably  appear  that  some  believed  in  witch- 
craft as  a  real  assault  of  the  devil  upon  the  churches 
of  New  England.  Such  helped  on  the  executions. 
Others  treated  the  occasion  merely  as  a  cause  for 
humiliation,  being  much  in  doubt  as  to  the  matter. 
It  is  fair  to  suppose  that  the  temper  of  the  pulpit 
round  about  Salem  has  been  already  indicated.  If 
so,  it  only  added  fuel  to  the  flames.  At  Dorchester, 
Eev.  John  Danforth,  the  pastor,  preached  in  the 
morning  from  Jonah  iii.  5,  and  his  brother.  Rev. 
Samuel  Danforth,  of  Taunton,  in  the  afternoon  from 
Psalm  cxix.  60.  Neither  seem  to  have  treated  of 
devils  on  the  occasion,  and  they  may  represent  the 
more  conservative  party.  Rev.  Samuel  Willard,  of  the 
Third  Church  in  Boston,  is  known  to  have  disfavored 
the  manner  of  the  prosecution,  and  would  not  have 
taken  any  radical  view.     A  broadside  from  the  pul- 

^  Modest  Enquiry^  etc.,  pp.  25,  26  ;  Magnolia^  ii.  472;  Hutchinson's 
HisUi  ii.  25 ;  Dor.  chh.  rec,  p.  104. 


THE   WITCHCRAFT  FASTS,  261 

pits  o£  New  England  on  that  day  would  have  stayed 
the  horror,  no  doubt.  The  greatest  interest,  however, 
centres  upon  the  exercises  in  the  Second  Church  of 
Boston,  whose  senior  pastor.  Rev.  Increase  Mather, 
had  just  returned  from  England.  The  son  and  col- 
league. Cotton  Mather,  was  certainly  an  inquirer  into 
the  phenomena  of  witchcraft,  and  of  great  influence. 
His  diary  gives  no  light  as  to  this  fast-day  service ; 
but  there  are  good  reasons  to  believe  that  he  delivered 
on  that  day  a  portion  of  what  afterwards  appeared  in 
his  work,  "The  Wonders  of  the  Invisible  World." 
One  section  of  this  is  entitled  "  An  Hortatory  and 
Necessary  Address  to  a  Country  now  Extraordinarily 
Alarum'd  by  the  Wrath  of  the  Devil."  The  principles 
of  historical  criticism  woidd  locate  the  teaching  before 
the  executions,  though  a  reference  to  them  may  have 
been  afterwards  introduced.  It  was  certainly  deliv- 
ered on  a  fast  day,  for  the  references  to  need  of  hu- 
miliation are  frequent,  and  this  clause  is  conclusive : 
"  We  are  engaged  in  a  Fast  this  day."  If  a  public 
fast  is  meant.  May  26  is  the  only  one  that  meets 
the  conditions.  Furthermore,  we  note  the  prevailing 
idea  of  the  proclamation  —  "to  seek  the  Lord  that 
he  would  rebuke  Satan  &  be  a  light  unto  his  people 
in  this  day  of  darkness  " —  in  such  sentences  as  these : 
"  Our  Lord  is  darkened  indeed  since  the  Powers  of 
Darkness  are  turned  in  upon  us."  Many  of  Mather's 
books  were  originally  sermons,  and  some  were  pub- 
lished as  such.  But  whether  or  not  this  conjecture  is 
correct,  this  work  sets  forth  his  views,  and  though  it 
may  justly  be  claimed  that  he  tried  to  stay  the  force 
of  spectral  evidence,  he  then  and  thereafter  believed 
in  the  reality  of  witchcraft,  and  attributed  it  to  the 


262         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

devil.  Such  an  address  as  this  upon  the  26th  of 
May,  1692,  would  have  done  something  toward  in- 
creasing the  fervor  of  the  prosecution. 

Here  it  should  also  be  recorded  that  Cotton  Mather 
believed,  as  Professor  Barrett  Wendell  has  clearly 
shown,  in  the  efficacy  of  prayer  and  fasting  in  cur- 
ing the  afflicted.  Of  this  his  biographer  says,  "  He 
inclines  more  and  more  to  reliance  on  fasting  and 
prayer.  This  was  undoubtedly  the  view  taken,  when 
the  panic  was  once  over,  by  even  the  most  strenuous 
advocates  of  the  reality  of  witchcraft,  and  Cotton 
Mather  undeniably  takes  to  himself  the  credit  of 
having  held  and  urged  it  all  along."  ^  Perhaps  he 
inspired  also  that  praying  circle  at  Salem  ;  but  certain 
it  is  that  all  these  attempts  to  see  if  prayer  and  fast- 
ing would  "  putt  an  end  to  their  Heavy  Trials  "  were 
failures. 

Five  days  after  this  fast  day.  Cotton  Mather  wrote 
his  well-known  letter  to  John  Richards,  warning  him 
against  spectral  evidence,  and  shortly  afterwards  the 
council  appealed  to  the  ministers  for  their  opinion. 
The  first  execution  had  taken  place  before  the  answer 
was  given,  June  15,  but  it  fairly  represents,  not 
only  Cotton  Mather  who  wrote  it,  but  that  larger 
circle  of  ministers  about  Boston,  removed  from  the 
intense  fanaticism  of  Salem.^  It  emphatically  dis- 
couraged condemnation  on  spectral  evidence,  but 
unfortunately  overshadowed  the  caution  with  a  com- 
mendation of  the  judges'  forwardness  in  prosecutions. 
In  the  logic  of  events  this  was  a  contradiction,  and 

1  Cotton  Mather,  Wendell,  pp.  107,  112-114. 

^  Hutchinson's  JTts^,!!.  50, 51 ;  Cases  of  Conscience,  etc.,  Increase 
Mather ;  Some  Miscellany  Observations,  etc.,  Samuel  Willard. 


THE   WITCHCRAFT  FASTS.  263 

the  executions  were  the  outcome  for  which  the  minis- 
ters of  Massachusetts  have  been  unjustly  blamed. 

It  was  largely  because  of  the  support  of  the  minis- 
ters that  an  attempt  was  made,  October  26,  1692,  to 
secure  a  convocation  of  ministers  to  check  the  prose- 
cutions. This  affair  enters  into  our  story  because  it 
concerned  an  attempt  to  secure  a  fast  day.  Sewall 
thus  refers  to  it :  "A  Bill  is  sent  in  about  calling  a 
Fast,  and  Convocation  of  Ministers,  that  may  be  led 
in  the  right  way  as  to  the  Witchcrafts.  The  season 
and  maner  of  doing  it  is  such  that  the  Court  of  Oyer 
and  Terminer  coimt  themselves  thereby  dismissed.  29 
Nos.  and  33  yeas  to  the  Bill.  Capt.  Bradstreet  and 
Lieut  True,  W™  Huchins  and  several  other  interested 
persons  there  in  the  affirmative."  ^  The  explanation 
of  this  paragraph  is  that  this  was  a  test  vDte  of  the 
General  Assembly  on  the  witchcraft  prosecutions,  and 
nowhere  has  it  been  given  its  deserved  prominence. 
The  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  had  adjourned  to 
the  first  Tuesday  in  November  from  September  22, 
and  we  have  the  testimony  of  Thomas  Brattle  in  his 
letter  dated  October  8,  that  the  assembly  was  looked 
to  for  some  obstructive  measure..  He  says  :  "  Between 
this  and  then  will  be  the  Great  assembly,  and  this 
matter  will  be  a  peculiar  matter  of  the  agitation." 
The  bill  for  calling  a  convocation  of  ministers  was 
the  anticipated  measure,  and  had  they  favored  prose- 
cutions it  would  not  have  been  appropriate.  It  was 
cleverly  devised,  for  the  clergy  were  always  hungry 
for  convocations,  and  besides,  the  appointment  of  a 
fast  was  attached  to  it.  Those  who  were  dissatisfied 
with  the  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  in  their  proceed- 
1  SewaU's  Diary,  i.  367. 


264         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

ings  were  in  favor  of  the  bill,  and,  knowing  the  posi- 
tion of  the  ministers,  they  judged  that  its  passage 
would  end.  the  prosecutions.  Captain  Bradstreet,  of 
whom  Sewall  speaks  as  favoring  the  bill,  was  Dudley 
Bradstreet,  the  deputy  from  Andover,  who  had  him- 
self been  accused  and  been  forced  to  seek  concealment, 
from  which  he  had  only  come  forth  a  short  time  be- 
fore and  perhaps  to  attend  this  very  assembly. 
Lieutenant  Henry  True  was  a  deputy  from  Salisbury, 
and  interested  because  his  wife,  Jane  Bradbury,  was 
a  daughter  of  Mrs.  Mary  Bradbury,  of  Salisbury, 
even  then  under  sentence  and  reprieved  through  the 
intercession  of  some  friends.  The  name  William 
Huchins  probably  should  be  Samuel  Hutchins,  a 
deputy  from  Haverhill,  whose  wife,  Hannah  Johnson, 
was  related  to  the  Johnsons  of  Andover,  then  in  con- 
finement. Their  essential  point  was  a  reference  of 
the  matter  to  the  ministers  in  whose  decision  they  had 
confidence,  and  whoever  would  vote  against  it  must 
reject  the  proposition  for  a  fast.  The  bill  was  passed 
by  a  majority  of  four  votes,  and  it  is  no  wonder  Sew- 
all  wrote,  "  The  season  and  maner  of  doing  it  is  such 
that  the  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  count  themselves 
thereby  dismissed."  That  was  the  very  intention  of 
the  measure.  The  convocation,  however,  was  not 
called,  for  there  was  no  need  of  it,  as  the  governor, 
Sir  William  Phips,  decided  that  the  unpopular  court 
should  die,  and  witchcraft  prosecutions  cease.  The 
fast,  if  we  rightly  judge,  was  ordered  December  20 
for  December  29,  though  no  proclamation  is  known 
to  survive.^ 

^  It  was  to  be  the  29th  if  the  order  was  received  in  time  ;  if  not, 
the  Thursday  following.  —  MS.  Coun.  Rec.y  ii,  211. 


THE   WITCHCRAFT  FASTS.  265 

The  sequel  came  four  years  afterwards,  when  a 
memorable  fast  of  repentance  was  ordered  for  January 
14,  1696-7.  After  the  executions,  a  reaction  set  in, 
which  increased  until  there  was  a  demand  for  a  day 
upon  which  to  bewail  the  mistakes  and  sorrows  of  the 
witchcraft ;  but  those  who  had  been  judges  in  the 
obnoxious  court,  and  such  as  had  urged  on  the  prose- 
cutions, were  sensitive  as  to  any  public  act  which  might 
reflect  upon  them.  Several  such  were  in  the  council. 
Besides  helping  on  the  appointments  by  the  governor, 
this  conflict  put  off  for  a  long  time  the  confession 
of  sin,  of  which  many  thought  the  judges  had  been 
guilty.  All  motions  of  the  House  to  this  end  were 
rejected,  and  all  suggestions  of  the  ministers  failed. 
At  a  court  fast,  September  16,  1696,  on  account  of 
an  expedition  against  St.  John,  Rev.  Samuel  Willard, 
in  his  sermon,  improved  his  opportunity  to  score  the 
authorities  for  this  failure  to  make  "public  confes- 
sion of  the  guilt  incurred  in  the  witch  trials,"  or,  as 
Sewall  puts  it,  he  "  spake  smartly  at  last  about  the 
Salem  Witchcrafts,  and  that  no  order  had  been  suf- 
fer'd  to  come  forth  by  Authority  to  ask  Gods  par- 
don." In  response  to  this  growing  demand,  a  procla- 
mation was  drawn  up  by  Cotton  Mather,  to  be  offered 
by  a  committee  on  religion,  created  for  the  purpose  in 
the  House.  It  was  a  characteristic  docimient,  and  for 
many  reasons  it  is  worthy  of  print,  and  not  least  of  all 
because  it  is  the  last  of  the  sort  proposed  by  the  clergy 
of  Massachusetts  :  ^  — 

1  State  Archives :  Ecc,  xi.  119;  Acts  and  Resolves,  vii.  531-533.  The 
*'  Streamer  "  to  which  Sewall  refers  (Diary,  i.  439)  is  put  in  its  place 
in  brackets.  The  three  specifications  are  by  different  hands,  the  last 
being  by  Captain  Byfield,  who  claimed  an  unjust  decision  in  a  law- 
suit. 


266        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS.       , 

Inasmuch  as  the  Holy  God,  hath  been,  by  Terrible  and  Vari- 
ous Dispensations  of  His  providence,  for  many  sevens  of  years 
Together,  most  Evidently  Testifying  His  Displeasure  against 
us;  and  these  Humbling  Dispensations  of  Heaven  have  pro- 
ceeded from  one  Degree  of  Calamity  upon  us  to  another, 
Wherein  God  hath  vexed  us  with  all  Adversity,  until  at  Last  the 
symptoms  of  an  Extreme  Desolation  Threaten  us:  A  more  than 
ordinary  Humiliation  of  this  whole  people,  accompanied  with 
fervent  supplications,  and  thorough  Reformations,  must  bee  ac- 
knowledged Necessary,  to  prepare  us  for  o'  Deliverance,  from 
o'  most  unhappy  circumstances. 

Tis  to  bee  Confessed,  and  it  hath  been  often  Confessed,  That 
the  people  of  This  Land,  in  a  Long  Apostasy,  from  that  Reli- 
gious Disposition,  that  signalized  the  First  planting  of  these  Col- 
onies, &  from  y"  very  Errand  into  this  Wilderness,  have,  with 
multiplied  provocations  to  the  Almighty,  sinned  Exceedingly. 

The  spirit  of  This  World,  hath  brought  almost  an  Epidemical 
Death,  upon  y'  spirit  of  serious,  practical  &  powerful  Religion. 

The  Glorious  Gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  here  enjoy'd 
with  much  plenty  as  well  as  purity,  hath  not  been  Thankfully, 
and  Fruitfully,  Entertained,  by  those  that  have  been  Blessed 
with  the  Joyful  sound. 

The  Covenant  of  Grace,  Recognized  in  o'  Churches,  hath  been 
by  multitudes  not  submitted  unto;  and  of  them  that  have  made 
a  profession  of  submission  unto  it,  very  many  have  not  walked 
according  to  the  sacred  obligations  thereby  Laid  upon  them. 

A  Flood  of  Excessive  Drinking,  w***  Incentives  thereto,  hath 
begun  to  overwhelm  Good  order  in  some  Towns,  &  even  to 
Drown  civilitie  itself. 

Some  English,  by  selling  of  strong  Drink  unto  Indians,  have 
not  only  prejudiced  the  Designs  of  Christianitie,  but  also  been 
the  Faulty  and  Bloody  occasions  of  Death,  among  them. 

The  most  unreasonable  Impieties  of  Rash  and  vain  swearing, 
with  Hellish  cursing,  in  the  mouths  of  some,  have  rendred  them 
Guilty  sinners. 

A  Vanity  in  Apparrel,  hath  been  affected  by  many,  whose 
Glory  hath  bin  their  shame. 

The  Lords-day,  hath  been  disturbed,  with  so  many  profana- 
tions, that  wee  may  not  wonder,  if  the  Land  see  no  Rest. 

The  woful  Decay  of  all  good  Family- Discipline,  hath  opened 
the  Flood-gates  for  Evils  Innumerable,  &  almost  Irremediable. 


THE   WITCHCRAFT  FASTS.  267 

Wicked  Sorceries  have  been  practised  in  the  Land;  and,  in 
the  Late  Inexplicable  storms  from  the  Invisible  world  thereby 
brought  upon  us,  wee  were  left,  by  the  Just  Hand  of  Heaven, 
unto  those  Errors,  whereby  Great  Hardships  were  brought  upon 
Innocent  persons,  and  (wee  fear)  Guilt  incurred,  which  wee 
have  all  cause  to  Bewayl,  with  much  confusion  of  o'  Face  before 
the  Lord. 

It  is  commonly  and  credibly  Reported,  That  some,  who 
have  belonged  unto  this  countrey,  have  committed  very  Detest- 
able PyracieSj  in  other  parts  of  the  world. 

The  sins  of  Uncleanness  in  many,  &  y*  Grossest  Instances, 
have  Defiled  the  Land. 

The  Joy  of  Harvest  hath  too  much  forgotten  y*  Glad  service 
of  God,  when  Hee  hath  given  us,  an  Abundance  of  all  Things. 

Much  Fraud  hath  been  used  in  the  Dealings  of  many,  and 
mutual  and  multiplied  oppressions  have  made  a  cry. 

Magistrates,  Ministers,  and  others  that  have  served  the  pub- 
lick,  have  been  but  Great  sufferers  by  their  services,  and  mett 
with  unrighteous  Discouragements,  [y'  Irreuernc:  to  superiors 
in  age  &  authority  &  disobedienc  to  parents  is  too  frequent 
amongst  us,  parents  not  keeping  up  their  authority  in  their 
familes.  Neglects  in  the  Administration  of  Justice  impartially 
and  duely  in  Courts  of  Justice  is  too  Obvious  in  this  Land.] 

Falsehood  and  slander,  hath  been  continually  carrying  of 
Darts  thro'  y*  Land. 

And  the  Successive  and  Amazing  Judgments  of  God,  which 
have  come  upon  us,  for  such  things  as  these,  have  not  Reclamed 
us,  but  wee  have  gone  on  still  in  o'  Iniquities. 

For  these  causes,  this  whole  people,  is  Admonished  now  to 
Humble  themselves  before  the  Lord,  with  Repeated  Acts  of  Re- 
pentance; and  particularly.  To  this  purpose.  It  is  Ordered,  That 

Thursday bee  kept   as   a   Day  of   HUMILIATION, 

by  prayer  with  FASTING,  before  the  God  of  Heaven,  in  the 
several  congregations  throughout  this  province;  and  all  servile 
Labour  on  y*  Day,  is  hereby  Inhibited:  That  so  wee  may  obtain, 
thro'  the  Blood  of  the  Lord  JESUS  CHRIST,  the  pardon,  both 
of  These  Iniquities,  and  of  whatever  other  secret  sins,  the  Lord 
may  have  sett  in  the  Light  of  His  countenance ;  And,  that  wee 
may  implore  y"  Effusions  of  y"  spirit  of  Grace  from  on  High, 
upon  all  Ranks  of  men,  and  Especially  upon  the  Rising  Genera- 
tion, whereby  o'  Turn  to  God,  y"  Fire  of  whose  wrath  is  dread- 
fully consuming  o'  young  men,  may  bee  accomplished. 


268         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

And  it  is  hereby  further  signified,  That  it  is  hoped,  the 
pastors  of  the  churches,  will,  in  their  several  charges,  by  private 
as  well  as  public  Applications,  Endeavour  to  prevent  all  growth 
of  sirif  as  they  may  discern  it,  in  their  Vicinities:  and  y* 
churches  join  with  their  pastors  in  sharpening  the  Ecclesiastical 
Discipline,  against  all  scandals  that  may  arise  among  them. 

And  all  civil  officers  are  hereby  Likewise  called  upon,  vigor- 
ously to  pursue  y^  Execution  of  y"  Lawes  from  Time  to  Time, 
Enacted  against  all  Immoralities;  and  in  their  several  places, 
as  well  to  make  Diligent  Enquiries  and  Impartial  presentments, 
of  all  offences  against  y^  said  Lawes,  as  to  Dispense  Justice 
equally,  for  no  cause  forbearing  to  do  their  office,  according  to  the 
oath  of  God,  w"^  is  upon  them;  and  unto  this  End  frequently  to 
have  their  consultations  in  their  several  precincts,  luhat  may  bee 
done  by  them  to  suppress  any  common  Evils  : 

Finally,  All  persons  are  hereby  advised,  seriously  to  pursue 
the  Designs  of  a  general  Conversion  unto  God,  as  y**  best 
Expedient,  for  ye  Encouragement  of  o'  Hopes,  That  Hee  who 
hath  shown  us  great  §'  sore  Troubles  may  Revive  us;  and  not 
Leave  us  to  perish  in  the  Convulsions  which  are  now  shaking  a 
miserable  world. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  Read  10*''  Decemb'"  1696,  a 
first  &  Second  time.     Voted  and  sent  up  for  Concurrance. 

Penn  Townsend,  Speaker. 

To  this  bill  there  was  appended  a  vote  that  five 
hundred  copies  be  printed,  that  it  be  published  in  the 
churches  and  issued  to  justices,  constables,  etc.,  requir- 
ing all  to  be  faithful  in  executing  their  respective 
offices,  and  that  the  laws  relating  to  them  be  collected 
and  inserted  in  the  proclamation. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the  council  did  not 
receive  this  bill  with  complacency ;  indeed,  they  were 
in  high  dudgeon  about  it,  professedly  because  the 
House  had  prepared  and  voted  all  without  consultation. 
Byfield  claimed  that  it  was  no  new  thing,  and  he  was 
right.  The  real  objection  was  deeper,  partly  to  the 
assault  on  the  judiciary,  but  we  suspect  in  the  main 


THE   WITCHCRAFT  FASTS.  269 

because  the  extravagant  view  which  Mather  presented 
of  New  England's  moral  condition  was  not  acceptable. 
The  bill  therefore  was  rejected  December  11,  and 
another  prepared  by  Judge  Samuel  Sewall  was  voted 
and  sent  down  for  concurrence.-  At  no  time  since  the 
settlement  of  New  England  had  there  been  greater 
excitement  about  a  proclamation.  The  House  was  in 
a  rage,  backed  up  no  doubt  by  the  ministers,  who  saw 
their  long-cherished  prerogative  passing  to  its  solemn 
burial.  Yet  a  conflict  was  useless,  and  as  the  council 
acceded  to  the  wish  for  a  fast,  it  was  of  short  duration. 
Finally  the  coimcil  proclamation,  with  some  altera- 
tions, was  passed  by  the  House  December  17.  It 
has  several  times  been  printed.  That  part  which 
relates  to  the  witchcraft  is  as  follows :  "  And  espe- 
cially, that  whatever  Mistakes,  on  either  hand,  have 
been  fallen  into,  either  by  the  body  of  this  People, 
or  any  Orders  of  men,  referring  to  the  late  Tragedie 
raised  amongst  us  by  Satan  and  his  Instruments, 
through  the  awfull  Judgment  of  God;  He  would 
humble  us  therefor,  and  pardon  all  the  Errors  of  his 
Servants  and  People  that  desire  to  Love  his  Name  ; 
and  be  attoned  to  His  Land."  It  was  upon  that 
day,  January  14,  1696-7,  appointed  after  so  long  a 
delay,  that  Judge  Samuel  SewaU  put  up  his  bill  of 
confession  to  be  read  in  the  Third  Church  in  Boston,^ 
wherein  he  not  only  acknowledged  any  sin  that  may 
have  been  laid  to  his  charge  as  one  of  the  judges  of 
the  witches,  but  also  left  a  worthy  example  of  manly 
self-abasement  to  his  lasting  honor.  It  is  the  falling 
curtain  which  hides  the  horrors  of  the  witchcraft  delu- 
sion from  view. 

^  Sewall's  Diary,  i,  445. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE   JUDGMENTS   AND  MERCIES  OF  INDIAN  WARFARE. 
1688-1713. 

The  most  we  can  hope  to  accomplish  in  connection 
with  these  years  of  war  with  the  Indians  is  to  set  in 
their  proper  environment  of  circumstances  the  prom- 
inent fast  and  thanksgiving  days.  The  trouble  was 
in  part  a  legacy  of  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  whose  expe- 
dition to  the  eastward  in  the  spring  of  1688  only 
incensed  the  savages  to  hostility,  and  he  did  not  undo 
the  damage  by  more  conciliatory  measures  afterwards 
adopted. 

On  the  27th  of  November,  1688,  we  find  the  Dor- 
chester church  keeping  a  fast  "  for  o'^  men  y*  are  gone 
out  to  ware."  Ill  news  had  arrived  at  Boston  August 
19,  of  five  English  killed  at  Northfield,  and  on  that 
account  a  fast  was  kept  in  the  First  Church  August 
23.  In  September  similar  reports  came  from 
the  eastward,  and  soldiers  were  dispatched  thither 
immediately,  and  word  was  sent  to  the  governor  at 
Albany.  He  returned  home  in  October,  and  upon 
the  failure  of  his  peaceful  policy,  raised  an  army  and 
went  forth  to  war.  A  fast  in  Boston,  November  22, 
probably  relates  to  their  departure.^     Dorchester  and 

^  They  marched  from  Boston,  Monday,  November  12,  and  notice  of 
a  fast  would  have  been  given  on  the  18th  for  the  f oUowmg  Thursday. 
—  Sewall's  Diary  J  i.  235,  236.  Cf.  Church's  Indian  Wars,  repr. 
1867,  ii.  55  n. 


INDIAN  WARFARE.  "2^11 

other  churches  kept  the  same  the  week  after.  The 
campaigii  was  a  failure.  The  soldiers,  who  had  sur- 
vived terrible  hardships,  returned  in  the  spring,  and 
Andros  soon  surrendered  the  government.  So  ended 
the  first  series  of  fasts. 

The  restored  Governor  Bradstreet  took  up  the  war- 
fare with  vigor  in  1689,  to  which  he  was  moved  by 
the  massacre  at  Dover,  N.  H.,  the  27th  of  June.  Cap- 
tain Benjamin  Church,  of  fame  in  King  Philip's  war, 
was  sunmioned  to  Boston  on  or  before  July  17,  and 
that  same  week  an  order  was  sent  out  for  a  fast  July 
25,  having  this  cause  prominent :  ''  In  regard  of  y® 
Indians  plotting  against  us  &  doeiiig  mischief  in  some 
pts  Qf  ye  Cuntry  killing  &  plundering."  At  Plymouth 
July  30  was  kept.  It  was  not,  however,  until  Septem- 
ber that  the  expedition  sailed  from  Boston,  probably 
the  19th,i  and  on  that  day  a  public  fast  was  observed 
therefor,  the  proclamation  for  wliich  is  extant  in  broad- 
side. It  is  only  necessary  to  say  that  the  expedition 
was  a  disappointment.  Church  was  coolly  treated  on 
his  return  in  January,  notwithstanding  his  valiant 
service,  and  they  had  no  victory  to  commemorate  on 
the  thanksgiving  December  19.  So  ended  the  second 
fasting  season. 

The  month  of  February,  1689-90,  found  the  people 
of  Massachusetts  agitated  about  the  prevalence  of  the 
smaUpox  and  a  descent  of  the  French  and  Indians  on 
Schenectady.     These  were  the  main  causes  in  the  pro- 

^  Church's  latest  instructions  were  dated  September  18,  Wednes- 
day, and  he  arrived  in  sight  of  Casco  harbor  on  a  Friday  afternoon, 
having  had  "a  brave  gale."  This  was  probably  the  20th,  as  he 
would  not  have  waited  a  week  under  the  circumstances.  He  is  said 
to  have  arrived  at  Falmouth  in  the  "  latter  part  of  September."  —  Wil- 
liamson's Hist.  Maine^  i.  616. 


272         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

clamation  for  a  fast  March  6,  also  extant  in  broadside. ^ 
The  smallpox  increased  in  virulence.  An  army 
under  Sir  William  Pliips  was  sent  out  April  28,  whose 
departure  the  Plymouth  Colony  had  in  mind  in  their 
fast  April  30,  and  perhaps  May  1  was  a  public  fast 
therefor  in  Massachusetts. ^  Port  Royal  was  taken; 
but  the  day  after  the  news  arrived,  while  a  church  fast 
was  in  progress  at  Charlestown,  May  23,  several 
members  of  the  council  present  were  called  out  of 
church,  to  hear  the  mournful  story  of  the  destruction 
of  Casco.  While  another  expedition  was  preparing, 
a  public  fast  was  ordered  by  the  General  Court  for 
July  10,3  principally  "  in  regard  of  y®  troubls  y* 
weer  upon  us  and  y®  wars  with  French  &  Indians 
and  y®  sicknes  y*  weer  amongst  us  as  y®  feavor  & 
smallpox."  The  fleet  sailed  from  Nantasket  August 
9,  and  again  a  public  fast  was  appointed  for  August 
28,  the  proclamation  being  drafted  by  Cotton  Mather, 
and  issued  by  the  governor  and  council.^  Yet  even 
as  they  were  keeping  the  day,  news  came  of  the  failure 
of  their  Indian  allies,  which,  in  the  words  of  Sewall, 
"  put  a  great  damp "  upon  their  spirits.  Another 
force,  under  Church,  was  to  threaten  the  eastern 
Indians,  and  New  York  and  Connecticut  were  to  move 
against  Canada,  but  for  various  reasons  all  these  cam- 
paigns were  disastrous.     Church  returned  to  Boston, 

1  MS.  Proc.  in  State  Arch. :  Ecc,  xi.  50.  Bd.  M.  H.  S.  On  that  day 
Cotton  Mather  preached  from  Ezek.  xx.  21,  22,  "  A  Textwch.  N.  E. 
has  more  than  once  happily  seen  y®  Fulfilment  of."  —  MS.  Sermon, 
Conn.  Hist.  Soc. 

'^  The  only  evidence  we  have  found  is  the  sermon  notes  of  James 
Allen,  of  Boston,  Har.  Coll.  Lib. 

^  There  is  a  draft  of  this  proclamation  by  Cotton  Mather,  but 
another  seems  to  have  been  adopted.     State  Arch. :  Ecc,  xi.  53,  54. 

*  Ibid.,  xi.  57 ;   Dor.  chh.  rec,  p.  101. 


INDIAN   WARFARE.  273 

as  it  would  seem  October,  ll,i  where  he  received 
neither  thanks  nor  money  for  his  services.  Upon 
reaching  his  home  he  gave  the  minister  of  the  town 
a  recital  of  what  he  considered  his  successes,  and 
"  desired  him  to  Return  Publick  Thanks,"  but  he  was 
presently  made  aware  that  the  court  at  Plymouth, 
October  7,  had  ordered  "  a  day  of  Humiliation  thro' 
the  whole  Government,  because  of  the  frowns  of  God 
upon  those  Forces  sent  imder  his  [my]  Command,  and 
the  ill  success  they  [we]  had  for  want  of  good  con- 
duct." The  day  was  October  29.^  However,  Church 
justified  himself  before  the  coui*t  November  4,  and  a 
thanksgiving  was  appointed  for  November  26.  Sir 
William  Pliips  reached  Boston  November  19,  with 
boat-loads  of  sick  soldiers  and  abundance  of  smallpox  ; 
and  he  probably  contributed  something  to  the  discus- 
sion already  referred  to,  as  to  the  fitness  of  a  fast  or 
a  thanksgiving.  So  in  the  midst  of  a  scourge  —  for 
the  ceasing  of  which  they  did  not  give  thanks  until 
February  23,  1692-3  —  they  gave  over  more  resist- 
ance against  the  Indians,  and  the  third  fasting  season 
ended. 

The  warfare  was  renewed  in  the  summer  of  1692, 
under  the  new  government.  Among  other  causes  for 
the  thanksgiving  July  14,  that  year,  the  proclamation 
for  which  is  extant  in  broadside,  was  that  it  had 
pleased  God  "  to  lay  Restraints  upon  our  Enemies, 
and  signally  to  Disappoint  and  Defeat  them  in  a  late 

^  He  reached  Boston  on  a  Saturday,  the  Saturday  before  the  con- 
vening of  the  Massachusetts  Court,  which  we  believe  was  October 
15.  Furthermore,  the  man  who  brought  the  evil  report  against  him 
was  "  at  home  a  week  before  him,"  and  before  the  Plymouth  Court 
met,  October  7. 

2  Ply.  Col  Bee,  vii.  308  ;  Church's  King  Philip's  War,  ii.  78  n. 


274         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

Attack  upon  the  Eastern  Parts."  This  was  the  de- 
feat at  Wells,  on  the  10th  of  June.  Shortly  after  this 
thanksgiving,  moved  thereto  by  instructions  from 
England,  the  governor  made  ready  a  force  to  build  a 
fort  at  Pemaquid.  They  sailed  about  the  1st  of  Au- 
gust, and  their  absence  was  noted  in  the  lecture  fasts 
during  that  summer;  but  they  accomplished  little 
beside  building  the  fort,  and  the  governor  reached 
home  again  September  29.  The  thanksgiving  Febru- 
ary 23,  1692-3,  mentioned  as  one  cause  "  a  present 
stop  to  the  rage  of  the  enemy."  The  early  months  of 
1693  were  uneventful,  but  early  in  June  the  English 
fleet  arrived  from  the  West  Indies,  with  the  yellow 
fever,  and  the  drought  of  the  previous  season  set  in. 
Under  such  circumstances,  Cotton  Mather  preached 
liis  sermon,  "  The  Day,  and  the  Work  of  the  Day," 
at  a  church  fast  July  6,  and  July  20  was  also  set 
throughout  the  province.  One  cause  was  the  expedi- 
tion of  Major  Converse  to  the  eastward  and  other  In- 
dian troubles  ;  but  in  August  a  treaty  was  concluded. 
This  hope  of  peace  was  dissipated  by  the  attack  on 
Groton,  July  27,  1694.  Then  the  war  was  nearer 
home,  and  more  serious  attention  was  directed  toward 
reformation,  which,  it  was  thought,  could  alone  divert 
it.  Such  is  the  setting  of  Samuel  WiUard's  fast  ser- 
mon, at  the  Third  Church  in  Boston,  August  23, 
"Reformation  the  Great  Duty  of  an  Afflicted  Peo- 
ple." And  so  the  troubles  continued  through  1695 
and  1696.  It  was  the  old  story  of  surprises  upon  the 
newer  settlements,  and  consequent  humiliations.  Thus 
October  24,  1695,  was  ordered  on  account  of  the  cap- 
tives taken  at  Billerica  and  Newbury  ;  and  July  23, 
1696,  for  the  massacres  at   York   and   Portsmouth. 


INDIAN   WARFARE.  275 

Then,  like  the  solemn  movement  of  some  symphony, 
the  sorrow  was  varied  by  the  impending  dread  of 
famine,  in  which  the  war  and  the  drought  had  con- 
spired. It  was  a  fear  common  in  all  the  colonies. 
For  this,  Massachusetts  fasted  July  23,  1696,  —  "to 
beg  our  daily  bread  and  peaxie."  Yet  in  the  midst  of 
their  troubles  they  were  turned  to  thanksgiving,  be- 
cause of  the  discovery  of  the  assassination  plot  against 
the  king,  the  news  of  which  came  by  way  of  New 
York,  and  by  a  messenger  bearing  a  printed  procla^ 
mation  for  the  same  in  England,  who  left  a  trail  of 
thanksgivings  behind  him.  In  Connecticut  the  day 
was  June  17,  and  in  Massachusetts  and  New  Hamp- 
shire, June  18,  The  same  was  also  mentioned  in  the 
autumn  thanksgivings.  So  the  mercies  were  mingled 
with  their  judgments.  An  end  finally  came  to  King 
William's  war  by  the  Treaty  of  Eyswick,  signed  in 
September,  1697,  and  though  the  news  came  too  late 
to  spare  Lancaster,  it  promised  a  relief  from  what 
Cotton  Mather  has  called  the  ten  years  of  great  ca- 
lamities.^ 

After  five  years  of  peace,  hostilities  between  the 
colonists  and  the  French  and  Indians  were  renewed 
August  10,  1703,  to  continue  for  another  period  of 
ten  years.  This  result  had  been  anticipated  the  year 
before,  when  Queen  Anne  came  to  the  throne,  and 
special  fasts  had  been  kept  in  Massachusetts  October 
22,  1702,  and  February  18,  1702-3,  partly  on  ac- 
count of  "  impending  war."  Nevertheless  they  sought 
to  avert  it,  the  governor,  Joseph  Dudley,  and  others 
holding  a  conference  with  the  Indians  at  Casco,  June 
20, 1703,  for  that  purpose.     They  failed,  and  upon  an 

1  Decennium  Luctuosum :  Magnalia,  ii.  580. 


276        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

August  morning  the  savages  made  an  attack  upon  the 
eastern  settlements  from  Casco  to  Wells,  killing  and 
taking  captive  more  than  one  hundred  persons.  News 
reached  Boston  the  next  day,  and  the  people  fully 
realized  what  it  meant.  The  frontier  settlements 
would  be  broken  up,  and  perilous  expeditions  must  be 
sent  out.  We  note  that  within  a  week  Dorchester 
church  and  town  were  keeping  a  fast  "to  implore 
deliverance  from  their  [our]  French  &  Indian  Enemys 
who  have  lately  made  a  great  Slaughter:  &  Taken 
many  Captives  at  y®  Eastward,  &  to  beg  Raine  from 
Heaven,"  to  which  a  memorandum  is  attached :  "  God 
sent  a  plentiful!  Raine ;  Item.  Diverse  of  our  Enemys 
have  fallen  into  our  hands,  8.  7°^  1703."  i 

And  here  we  have  an  illustration  of  the  manner  of 
appointments  at  this  time  in  New  Hampshire,  for 
the  lieutenant-governor  and  council  upon  August  23 
ordered  a  fast  for  September  1,  and  upon  September 
14  voted  another  for  September  23,  according  to  the 
command  of  Governor  Dudley.^  It  may  seem  that 
this  was  great  frequency,  but  it  was  none  too  much  so 
considering  their  danger  on  the  frontier.  They  were 
a  hardy  people  in  prayer  as  well  as  fighting,  —  those 
New  Hampshire  men ;  they  committed  their  forces  to 
the  "  good  conduct  of  Heaven  "  on  this  occasion,  that 
they  might  "  be  succeeded  in  taking  just  Revenges  of 
the  perfidious  enemy,"  and  offered  a  bounty  of  <£40 
for  scalps. 

Of  Connecticut  it  may  be  said,  in  this  connection, 
that  her  proclamations  exhibit  a  sympathy  with  her 

^  Dor.  chh.  rec,  p.  104. 

2  N.  H.  Col.  Bec.^  ii.  404.     At  Dover,  Aug-ust  19  had  been  turned 
into  a  public  fast  on  account  of  the  war.  —  John  Pike's  Journal, 


INDIAN   WARFARE.  277 

neighbors  in  affliction,  but  she  was  too  far  removed 
from  the  perils  of  war  to  respond  as  did  the  northern 
and  eastern  settlements.  The  people  of  Maine  ob- 
served such  days  as  Massachusetts  ordered,  or  were  a 
law  unto  themselves.  So  it  happened  that,  excepting 
Connecticut,  the  Massachusetts  order  sometimes  cov- 
ered the  rest  of  New  England,  as  Rhode  Island  kept 
only  such  as  were  commanded  from  England. 

Thanksgivings  were  kept  as  usual  in  the  autumn, 
though  there  was  no  great  cause  for  rejoicing  at  victo- 
ries ;  but  in  the  February  following,  while  a  force  was 
abroad  on  snowshoes,  and  even  as  Massachusetts  and 
New  Hampshire  were  fasting  for  them,  February  17, 
1703-4,  the  Indians  were  preparing  a  severe  stroke 
by  stealing  southward  toward  Deerfield,  which  they 
assaulted  February  29.  This  aroused  Massachusetts. 
Of  the  forty-seven  who  were  killed,  and  the  one  hun- 
dred and  twelve  taken  captive,  many  were  their  own 
kindred,  and  a  profound  impression  was  made  upon 
the  ministers  by  the  taking  of  Rev.  John  WiUiams, 
the  minister  of  Deerfield.  Upon  a  Sunday  morning, 
March  5,  the  sorrowful  story  was  passed  from  one 
to  another  on  the  way  to  church,  and  SewaU  says  of 
the  day  in  the  Third  Church  :  "  Our  Congregation 
was  made  a  Bochim,  Judges  ii.  1—5."  Ten  days  after 
this  the  General  Assembly  had  a  day  of  fasting  on 
account  of  these  calamities,  and  upon  that  occasion 
were  preached  two  notable  sermons  which  are  in  print. 
One  was  by  Samuel  Willard,  entitled  "  Israel's  True 
Safety,"  and  the  other  by  John  Danforth,  of  Dorches- 
ter, entitled  "  The  Vile  Prophanations  of  Prosperity." 
To  the  latter  print  is  appended  "  A  Declaration  Against 
Prophaneness  &  Immoralities,"  which  was  issued  by 


278         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

the  assembly  March  24  following,  and  was  probably  the 
result  of  that  day's  impressions.  Both  these  sermons 
presented  a  sorrowful  picture.  Willard  said  :  "  When 
this  whole  People  were  called  to  Sanctify  a  Fast  and 
lay  themselves  in  the  dust  before  God,  so  to  implore 
his  pity  and  succour,  He  hath  seemed  to  Smoke 
against  our  Prayers,  and  hath  answered  us  by  terrible 
things  in  the  late  sad  Catastrophe  which  befel  one  of 
our  Frontier  Places  a  few  days  after."  He  referred 
of  course  to  the  fast  of  February  17,  and  the  assault 
on  Deerfield.  Danforth  said:  "The  Clouds  return 
after  the  Rain,  in  a  new  War  which  the  Perfidious 
and  Murderous  Rebels  the  Salvages  have  commenced 
whilst  we  were  yet  Languishing  under  the  Wounds  of 
the  former."  Such  were  the  sentiments  of  the  day, 
and  they  were  sorrowful  enough.  Connecticut  had 
been  startled,  too,  by  the  slaughter  at  Deerfield,  to 
whose  assistance  volunteers  from  the  river  towns  had 
hastened,  and  a  special  session  of  the  assembly  was 
convened,  and  a  fast  appointed  for  the  29th  of  March. 
This  wave  of  excitement  had  hardly  subsided  ere 
another  arose.  Upon  the  4th  of  May  Governor  Dud- 
ley issued  his  instructions  to  Colonel  Benjamin  Clmrch, 
about  to  start  with  an  expedition  eastward,  and  about 
the  same  time  he  ordered  a  day  of  prayer  for  its  suc- 
cess, kept  on  the  ISth.i  Yet  before  the  day  arrived, 
indeed  on  the  very  day  the  proclamation  was  being 
read  in  the  churches,  the  express  brought  news  of 
the  assault  upon  Pascomuck  (Easthampton,  Mass.). 
The  effect  can  be  imagined.     It  brought  to  mmd  the 

^  It  was  ordered  April  27,  three  days  after  the  first  issue  of  the 
Boston  News-Letter.  The  proclamation  was  printed  in  the  third  issue, 
and  is  the  first  ever  printed  in  a  New  England  newspaper. 


INDIAN   WARFARE,  279 

days  of  1675.  On  that  fast  day,  in  some  churches, 
the  "  Declaration  Against  Prophaneness  "  was  read  as 
a  part  of  the  service.  The  Connecticut  Assembly 
was  in  session  when  this  news  reached  them.  Imme- 
diately they  fell  to  discussing  the  need  for  reformation, 
and  set  June  14  for  a  fast.  So  the  season  passed, 
and  there  were  some  successes,  at  least  in  the  failure 
of  their  enemies'  expeditions  against  them,  to  chronicle 
in  the  autumn  thanksgivings. 

The  year  1705  was  not  eventful,  though  the  war- 
fare continued  along  the  frontiers.  A  special  thanks- 
giving was  kept  in  Massachusetts  April  12,  in  which 
their  "late  exemptions  from  molestations  of  the  en- 
emy" were  noted,  but  the  main  cause  was  doubtless 
the  narrow  escape  from  shipwreck  which  the  gov- 
ernor had  upon  a  return  voyage  from  Portsmouth.^ 
In  the  autumn,  too,  they  had  the  unusual  successes  of 
her  Majesty's  forces  in  the  war  to  commemorate, 
though  only  the  annual  thanksgiving  was  set  until  an 
order  from  England  arrived,  on  which  account  they 
repeated  the  same  in  Massachusetts  January  24, 
1705-6, — a  fair  example  of  many  such  days  both 
north  and  south  in  response  to  a  royal  suggestion. 

The  Indian  attacks  of  1706  were  more  numerous 
and  disastrous,  extending  along  the  frontier  from  Sud- 
bury to  Kittery,  but  we  know  of  no  extraordinary 
fastings.  That  year,  however,  was  notable  for  the 
return  of  captives  ;  and  notwithstanding  a  controversy 
arising  out  of  certain  suspicions  of  duplicity  in  the 
matter,  a  sufficient  number  were  redeemed  to  flavor 
the   autumn    thanksgivings.     A  larger  number  came 

^  Hutchinson's  Hist.^  ii.  148 ;  Sewall's  Diary ^  ii.  126,  128 ;  Proc.  in 
Boston  News-Letter,  No  48. 


280         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

later,  and  among  them  Rev.  John  Williams  and  two 
of  his  sons,  —  a  special  answer,  it  was  said,  to  public 
prayers  in  their  behalf.^ 

The  spring  of  1707  opened  with  a  court  fast  for 
direction  in  the  expedition  then  contemplated  against 
Port  Royal.  Sewall  is  rather  more  particular  than 
usual  as  to  the  manner  of  that  observance.  The  ser- 
vice began  a  little  after  ten  o'clock,  and  continued 
until  half  past  two.  At  least  seven  ministers  were  pres- 
ent, and  several  prayers  were  offered  "  with  great 
Pertinency  and  Variety,"  which  must  have  been,  as 
some  prayed  that  God  would  show  them  what  to  do  as 
to  the  expedition,  and  others  thanked  Him  for  the  news 
that  eighteen  Indians  had  lately  been  killed.  We 
may  imagine,  the  solemn  mien  of  our  judge  as  he  set 
the  20th  Psalm  to  his  favorite  York  tune.  We  know 
of  no  sermon  preached,  and  it  is  not  said  that  it  was 
distinctively  a  fast ;  but  it  was  observed  as  such  custom- 
arily were,  and  even  the  after-part  was  not  out  of  place, 
when  they  broke  the  fast  and  all  retired  to  Home's  to 
dine  at  the  council's  expense.  The  whole  is  a  picture 
of  a  bygone  age,  for  the  authorities  in  Massachusetts 
have  long  since  ceased  to  delight  in  such  occasions. 
The  expedition  was  decided  on,  and  the  spring  fast 
April  16  in  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire  took 
notice  of  the  fact.  It  sailed  May  13.2  B^^t  after  a 
skirmish  or  two,  and  within  a  month,  the  army  reem- 

1  Dor.  chh.  rec,  p.  129.  One  daughter,  Eunice,  did  not  return.  She 
married,  lived,  and  died  in  Canada ;  but  she  was  for  years  the  subject 
of  special  prayers,  and  upon  the  occasion  of  her  visit  to  her  relatives 
in  1741  was  the  principal  cause  of  a  fast  day.  See  sermon,  Solomon 
Williams,  August  4,  1741. 

^  Penhallow's  Indian  Wars  is  in  error  in  saying  March  13.  Cf. 
Hutchinson's  Ilist.^  ii.  165  ;  SewalFs  Biary^  ii.  185. 


INDIAN   WARFARE.  281 

barked  for  Casco.  There  was  great  dissatisfaction, 
increased  by  repeated  surprises  along  the  frontiers. 
On  the  day  of  the  ill  news,  however,  a  rainbow  was 
seen  just  at  night,  and  therein  they  found  comfort. 
Again  the  forces  were  sent  forward,  with  a  fast  July 
24  for  a  blessing.  They  had  prayers  enough,  but 
no  able  general,  and  because  the  former  woidd  not 
answer  alone  they  finally  returned  home  in  time  for 
a  hearty  thanksgiving  on  being  safely  there. 

Of  the  year  1708  it  need  only  be  said  the  Indians 
kept  up  their  warfare  and  the  colonists  offered  what 
resistance  they  could.  But  in  1709  there  was  encour- 
agement from  England  of  a  final  venture.  Troops 
were  raised,  and  the  squadron  from  abroad  was 
awaited.  At  last,  in  the  autumn,  word  came  that 
it  had  gone  to  Portugal,  and  that  after  the  poor 
New  England  people  had  been  fasting  in  church  and 
state  all  the  season  long.  The  next  year  they  had 
a  drought  and  a  plague  of  worms  to  pray  over,  for 
which  the  Boston  churches  fasted  together  May  4,  and 
the  province  June  15.  Finally  the  expedition  arrived, 
for  which  they  turned  to  thanksgivings  August  10, 
— "  the  happy  arrival  of  her  Majesty's  forces  from 
Great  Britain  for  our  relief  from  the  insult  of  ene- 
mies," including  in  the  same  their  gratitude  for  rain. 
After  waiting  two  months,  the  expedition  sailed  Sep- 
tember 18,  with  the  usual  humiliations  to  help  it  on,  ten 
days  thereafter.  It  was  a  success,  and  who  can  say 
that  the  people  had  not  earned  some  encouragement  ? 
That  year  they  had  a  very  cheerful  thanksgiving. 

The  year  1711  was  one  of  continual  public  humilia- 
tions, first  to  implore  divine  favor  upon  the  great 
expedition  against  Quebec,  and  afterwards  to  express 


282         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

sorrow  over  its  failure.  The  story  is  familiar.  Gov- 
ernor Dudley  sent  forth  an  order  for  a  fast  in  Massa- 
chusetts and  New  Hampshire  to  be  on  July  26,  and  the 
forces  departed  the  30th;  but  he  also  included  the 
keeping  of  a  monthly  fast  the  last  Thursday  in  each 
month  during  the  expedition.  August  30  was  there- 
fore kept,  but  before  September  27  came  round  ill 
news  arrived,  and  this  was  put  oif  to  October  11.  A 
similar  "  wheel  of  prayer  "  was  in  motion  in  Connect- 
icut, beginning  the  15th  of  August,  and  ending  the 
31st  of  October.  This  custom  we  have  met  with  be- 
fore during  King  Philip's  war,  and  as  Belknap  says 
of  it  in  New  Hampshire,  "  it  was  an  imitation  of  the 
conduct  of  the  long  parliament  during  the  civil  wars." 
By  the  putting  off  of  the  fast  to  October  11,  the  peo- 
ple of  Boston  had  additional  occasion  for  humiliation 
on  account  of  the  great  fire  of  the  2d  instant,  which 
destroyed  the  Old  Meeting-House.  This  was  par- 
ticularly regarded  as  a  judgment  upon  an  irreligious 
people,  and  the  sermon  which  Increase  Mather 
preached,  "  In  which  the  Sins  which  Provoke  the  Lord 
to  kindle  Fires  are  Enquired  into,"  was  not  at  all  an 
exceptional  view.  As  might  be  expected,  the  failure 
of  this  expedition  resulted  in  renewed  hostilities  along 
the  frontier. 

But  we  can  remark,  as  Hutchinson  did,  "  I  am 
I  tired  of  relating  these  inroads  of  the  enemy,"  and  we 
might  add  the  humiliations  which  accompanied  them. 
By  this  time  the  people  had  become  so  accustomed  to 
news  of  a  doleful  sort  that  it  offered  less  and  less 
cause  for  fasting.  They  were  evidently  disheartened, 
and  perhaps  a  little  skeptical.  Yet  here  it  was  truly 
darkest  just  before  dawn,  for  in  October,  1712,  the 


INDIAN   WARFARE.  283 

queen's  proclamation  of  a  cessation  of  arms  arrived. 
Of  course  it  should  be  mentioned  in  the  thanksgiving 
at  hand.  In  a  week  the  council  at  Boston  were  at 
work  "  hammering  out  "  a  proclamation.  The  secre- 
tary drew  it,  and  the  rest  of  the  company  criticised  it. 
One  phrase  in  the  original  draft  was  this,  "  for  the 
near  view  of  a  peace."  His  Excellency  added  the 
word  "  happy,"  but  the  judicious  SewaU  thought  per- 
haps it  would  be  better  to  find  out  what  the  conditions 
were  before  such  a  joyful  christening.  He  was  over- 
ruled. The  point  was  too  minute,  and  any  kind  of 
a  peace  was  "  happy  "  to  the  governor.  Then  there 
arose  an  amendment  to  the  agricultural  clause,  "  the 
plentiful  harvest."  The  judge  said  "  the  Wheat  and 
Rye  were  much  blasted ;  the  Barly  much  diminished," 
and  he  was  for  introducing  the  word  "  later  "  before 
harvest.  But  it  was  decided  not  to  be  over-exact,  and 
to  thank  the  Lord  even  for  the  poor  crop  of  early 
cereals.i  We  refer  to  this  as  illustrating  the  care 
which  was  then  common  in  framing  proclamations. 
They  were  not  only  not  satisfied  with  mere  generals, 
but  also  exact  in  the  particulars ;  and  it  is  this  which 
gives  historical  value  to  their  proclamations. 

We  have  had  in  this  period  abundant  evidence  of 
the  frequency  of  fasts.  The  practice  had  its  enemies 
even  at  that  day.  These  were  mostly  Episcopalians. 
In  some  instances  they  prevailed  to  prevent  such  days. 
On  the  17th  of  December,  1713,  the  Boston  churches 
had  kept  a  fast  on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  grain, 
prevailing  sicknesses,  and  the  setting  in  of  a  severe 
winter ;  and  two  days  thereafter  the  council  were  sit- 
ting round  the  fire  in  their  chamber,  and  fell  to  eom- 
^  Sewall's  Diary ^  ii.  365.     See,  also,  iii.  41. 


284         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

menting  on  the  neglect  of  the  occasion  by  the  Epis- 
copalians. General  Nicholson,  who  was  an  attendant 
at  King's  Chapel,  thought  no  fast  should  be  kept 
without  public  authority,  and  complained  because  the 
shops  had  been  closed  on  the  fast.  Of  course  trade 
had  not  been  prohibited,  but  the  people  had  come 
to  observe  such  ecclesiastical  fasts  as  sacredly  as 
those  proclaimed  by  the  authorities.  On  this  oc- 
casion, as  they  were  met  to  discuss  a  proposed  fast, 
the  objector  himself  courteously  moved  for  it  to  be 
January  14, 1713-14.  Still  all  the  Church  of  England 
people  were  tired  of  such  constant  humiliations,  and 
they  had  surely  good  reasons  for  being  so.  During 
these  years  of  war  they  had  been  compelled  to  observe 
them  by  the  dozen ;  and  though  it  may  seem  to  the 
reader  that  there  was  a  sameness  in  them,  each  day 
had  its  own  fresh  cause  and  complaint.  It  is  only  by 
following  them  in  detail,  as  we  have  done,  that  a  true 
conception  can  be  had  of  the  custom  as  the  fathers 
honored  and  practiced  it. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE   TERROR   OF  THE   LORD. 

1727-1755. 

The  great  earthquake  of  October   29,  1727,  pro- 
duced a  profound  impression  upon  the  people  of  New    " 
England.     In  itself  it  can  hardly  be  called  a  calamity, 
for  there  were  no  lives  lost,  and  no  property  was  de- 
stroyed, excepting  as  a  few  rods  of  toppling  stone 
wall  were  thrown    down,  the  loosened  bricks  shaken  . 
from  the  chimneys,  and  some  springs  of  water  dried 
up.     The  consequent  excitement  was  not  due  wholly 
to  the  fact  of  an  earthquake,  for  they  had  their  tradi- 
tions of  others  that  had  been  experienced;  but  rather  I 
to  the  use  that  was  made  of  it  by  the  ministers  as  a  \ 
threatened  judgment  upon  a  backslidden  people.     As  I 
such,  it  furnishes  the  most  remarkable  study  of  the/ 
century  preceding  the  American  Revolution. 

It  had,  indeed,  been  a  long  time  since  the  land  had 
been  visited  with  any  phenomenon  worthy  of  being 
called  an  earthquake.  There  had  been  slight  trem- 
bhngs  of  the  earth  within  the  memory  of  many  then 
living,  but  those  who  recalled  that  of  January  26 
and  February  5,  1662-3,  must  have  been  few.^    Dur- 

^  Authorities  notice  the  following  earthquakes  in  New  England  be- 
fore 1815:  June  1,  1638;  January  14,  1639;  March  5,  1643;  Octo- 
ber 29,  1653 ;  1658 ;  January  31,  1660 ;  January  26,  and  February 
5, 1662-3  ;  October  5, 1665  ;  December  3,  1666 ;  April  3,  and  Decem- 
ber 9, 1668 ;  1669 ;  February  8,  1685 ;  June  16  and  22, 1705  ;  October 


286         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

ing  this  interval,  however,  they  had  been  repeatedly 
startled  by  news  of  convulsions  in  other  lands,  similar 
to  that  of  1687  at  Lima,  in  which  it  was  reported 
that  "  above  60,000  persons  perished,  leaving  a  pool 
of  water  where  the  city  stood."  They  did  not  know 
but  that  such  might  be  the  fate  of  some  in  New 
England.  Nor  was  theirs  an  age  of  science.  The 
prevaihng  ignorance  concerning  earthquakes,  and  a 
superstitious  regard  for  supernatural  agencies,  left  the 
people  in  a  most  impressible  state  of  feeling.  They 
were  many  centuries  nearer  the  catastrophe  which 
overtook  the  rebellious  Korahites.  The  preaching, 
too,  had  been  enforced  by  prophecies  of  a  judgment 
if  they  did  not  reform.  So  fully  were  the  ministers 
committed  to  a  belief  in  the  divine  warning  of  calami- 
ties, that  one  may  wonder  what  they  would  have  done 
for  arguments  without  an  occasional  drought,  or  tem- 
pest, or  scourge.  Ah !  it  was  all  very  real  to  the 
honest  and  reverent  men  of  those  days,  more  so,  per- 
haps, than  at  any  time  since.  Looking,  then,  through 
their  eyes,  we  can  comprehend  the  widespread  religious 
interest  which  resulted  from  what  their  foremost  di- 
vine called  "  the  terror  of  the  Lord." 

The  29th  of  October,  1727,  was  a  Sabbath  day,  — 
the  old  and  honored  New  England  Sabbath,  when  the 
people  universally  attended  church  throughout  many 
hours  of  the  day,  read  their  Bibles  in  the  solemn  still- 
ness of  the  twilight,  and  catechised  the  children  with 
scrupulous  care.  As  they  went  to  their  rest,  it  was 
with  more  than  ordinary  religious  temper  of    mind. 

29, 1727;  April  12, 1730;  September  5,  1732  ;  February  6, 1737;  June 
3  and  20,  1744 ;  November  18,  1755  ;  July  8,  1757 ;  March  12,  1761 ; 
November  29,  1780;  March  1,  1800;  April  5,  1805;  November  9, 
1810;  November  28,  1814. 


THE   TERROR    OF  THE  LORD.  287 

There  was  nothing  in  the  air  that  night  which  por- 
tended evil,  for  it  was  cahn  and  still.  Some  few  were 
abroad,  but  the  most  were  asleep.  It  was  about 
forty  minutes  past  ten  o'clock,  —  for  authorities  differ, 
as  doubtless  their  clocks  gave  reason,  —  when  the 
sleepers  were  awakened  by  a  rumbling  noise,  which 
continued  for  half  a  minute,  ever  drawing  nearer  ;  and 
then  the  earth  began  to  tremble  and  heave  upwards, 
the  shock  reaching  its  height  in  about  a  minute  and 
then  subsiding.  It  is  worth  while  to  give,  in  their 
own  words,  some  of  the  descriptions  which  reflect  the 
recitals  of  fast-day  sermons.  Cotton  Mather  says : 
"  About  a  quarter  of  an  Hour  before  eleven,  there 
was  heard  in  Boston  from  one  end  of  the  Town  to  the 
other,  an  horrid  rumbling  like  the  Noise  .of  many 
Coaches  together  driving  on  the  paved  Stones  with 
the  utmost  Rapidity.  But  it  was  attended  with  a 
most  awful  Trembling  of  the  Earth,  which  did  heave 
and  shake  so  as  to  Rocque  the  Houses."  Thomas 
Prince  gives  this  account :  "It  came  on  with  a  loud 
hollow  Noise  like  the  Roaring  of  a  Great  fired  Chim- 
ney, but  incomparably  more  fierce  and  terrible.  In 
about  half  a  minute  the  Earth  began  to  heave  and 
tremble.  .  .  .  The  Noise  &  Shakes  seem'd  to  come 
from  the  Northwestward  and  to  go  off  Southeasterly, 
and  so  the  Houses  seemed  to  reel."  Paul  Dudley,  in 
the  description  which  he  sent  to  England,^  adopted 
Cotton  Mather's  simile,  and  added  that  "  one  compared 
it  to  the  shooting  out  of  a  load  of  stones  from  a  cart 
under  his  window."  He  hin^self,  being  perfectly 
awake,  "  thought  at  first  the  servants  who  lodged  in 
a  garret  over  his  chamber  \vere  dragging  along  a  trun- 
^  Philosophical  Trans,  of  the  ^oyal  Soc.  of  London,  viii.  22. 


288         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

die  bed,"  yet  he  also  says  there  is  no  describing  the 
noise.  His  house,  which  was  large  and  well  built, 
"  seemed  to  be  pressed  up  together  as  if  a  hundred 
screws  had  been  at  work  to  tlu'ow  it  down."  All  wit- 
nesses agree  that  the  motion  was  upward,  and  more 
than  a  dozen  printed  sermons  support  the  impressions 
of  the  terrible  noise  which  accompanied  it.  The  re- 
port that  "a  flash  of  Light  was  observed  at  the 
Windows  and  a  Blaze  was  seen  to  run  along  on  the 
ground "  before  the  shock,  which  is  mentioned  by 
Mather,  Prince,  Foxcroft,  and  others,  seems  to  have 
originated  at  Hampton,  N.  H.,  and  with  Nathaniel 
Gookin.  Perhaps  tliis  was  imagination,  like  the  smell 
of  sulphur  .  that  pervaded  the  house  of  a  certain  min- 
ister. Before  any  of  these  sermons  were  printed, 
and  before  some  of  them  had  been  preached,  letters 
had  carried  the  stories  abroad,  as  the  supplementary 
notes  testify,  and  then  as  now  a  story  loses  nothing 
by  repetition.  The  effects  of  the  shock,  as  they  were 
reported  from  distant  sections,  were  very  remarkable. 
At  Guilford,  Conn.,  "  it  tolled  a  bell ;  "  at  New  Lon- 
don "  a  house  was  rock'd  and  remain'd  leaning  about 
two  feet  over  ; "  at  Casco  and  Marblehead  there  was 
an  agitation  of  the  waters  which  made  the  ships  sheer 
and  quiver,  and  it  seemed  as  if  they  had  run  aground ; 
at  Newbury  one  said  "  there  was  a  fissure  of  the  earth 
and  near  twenty  cart  loads  of  fine  sand  thrown  out 
where  the  ground  brake  and  water  boiled  out  like  a 
spring  and  mixing  with  the  sand  made  a  sort  of  a  quag- 
mire ;  "  at  Boston  the  water  in  a  well  thirty-six  feet 
deep  "  turned  wheyish  and  stank  ;  "  at  New  York  ves- 
sels were  shaken  from  the  shelves,  and  clocks  were 
put  in  disorder.     Animals  were  affrighted ;  the  dogs 


THE   TERROR   OF  THE  LORD.  289 

barked  and  howled ;  a  horse  quivered  with  fear  under 
his  rider,  and  the  beasts  in  the  fields  ran  excitedly  to 
and  fro.  Such  stories  were  circulated,  many  of  them 
true,  but  some  exaggerated  or  false.  However,  as 
they  were  believed  at  the  time,  the  fear  can  be  ima- 
gined which  extended  from  Kennebec  to  Philadelphia. 
The  subsequent  events  at  Boston  furnish  an  illus- 
tration. At  the  first  shock,  the  awakened  sleepers 
ran  into  the  streets  for  safety,  and  gathered  in  terror- 
stricken  groups,  not  knowing  but  their  end  had  come. 
Some  verily  thought  the  last  trump  had  sounded  for 
the  judgment.  Nor  was  the  excitement  allayed  after 
this  shock  was  ov^r,  for  four  or  five  times  before  day- 
light the  earth  trembled.  In  fact,  these  disturbances 
continued  for  several  weeks,  being  felt  thirty  times 
during  the  next  ten  days,  and  only  ceased  after  a 
shock  nearly  as  great  on  the  30th  of  January  follow- 
ing.^ This  continuance  of  the  earthquake  had  a  sol- 
emnizing influence  upon  the  minds  of  the  people,  and 
wa§_used  with  great  effect  by  the  ministers  in  their 
sermons,  as  though  God  were  holding  the  people  over 
the  bottomless  pit  awaiting  their  reformation.  When 
the  day  at  Boston  dawned,  the  streets  were  thronged, 
and  every  one  had  some  experience  to  relate.  The 
ministers  were  ready  to  utihze  the  occasion.  For 
years  they  had  thundered  in  the  deaf  ears  of  New 
England.     Was  the  time  at  hand  when  God's  right- 

1  Shocks  were  felt  November  11,  12,  14,  19,  December  6,  7,  8,  12. 
"On  Tuesday,  the  30th  [Jan.]  near  two  a  clock  P.  m.  we  had  here 
in  Boston  the  ^eatest  shock  that  has  been  observ'd  since  the  night 
after  Octob.  29.  It  made  the  houses  shake  and  the  moveables  jarr. 
It  was  perceived  mostly  by  those  within  doors  and  many  ran  out  into 
the  streets  in  great  consternation.' '  —  Boston  News-Letter^  February 
1,  1728. 


f 


i/ 


290         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

eous  judgments  would  be  visited  upon  them  ?  Cotton 
Mather  was  the  first  to  move.  About  ten  o'clock  in 
the  forenoon,  at  his  direction,  the  bell  of  the  Old 
North  Church  was  rung  to  summon  the  people  to 
"  some  seasonable  exercises  of  religion."  His  church 
had  the  largest  capacity  of  any  in  Boston,  and  it  was 
quickly  packed  to  its  utmost.  Other  ministers  came. 
No  audience  had  been  seen  for  many  a  year  so  solemn 
and  devout.  One  after  another  the  ministers  were 
heard  in  prayer,  and  they  were  sincere  outpourings  of 
a  repentant  spirit,  moving  the  worshipers  to  tears. 
A  less  thoughtful  people  would  have  made  it  a  service 
of  thanksgiving  for  their  deliveram^e ;  but  they  had 
heard  again  and  again  warnings  against  Sabbath- 
breaking,  profanity,  drunkenness,  and  all  unrighteous- 
ness, and  these  had  passed  unheeded.  The  public 
conscience  had  been  aroused,  and  by  the  terrors  of  a 
single  night.  Repentance  was  the  cry.  It  came  time 
for  the  sermon.  No  minister  of  the  day  was  equal  to 
Cotton  Mather  in  the  dramatic  recital  of  New  Eng- 
land's misdeeds ;  and  after  the  prayers  it  was  his  voice 
that  was  heard  in  the  awful  stiUness.  His  text  was 
Micah  vi.  9,  "  The  Lord's  voice  crieth  unto  the  city," 
etc.  It  was  a  discourse  calculated  to  deepen  and  in- 
crease their  fears.  The  earthquake  was  verily  the 
voice  of  God.  "  The  Glorious  God  has  Roared  out 
of  Zion,"  he  said ;  "  we  have  the  last  night  heard 
the  terrible  Roaring,"  —  a  favorite  figure,  found  in 
more  than  one  earthquake  sermon.  There  may  be 
more  to  come ;  God  is  awaiting  an  answer  to  his  sum- 
mons. Such  was  the  tone  of  the  discourse.  Then  he 
went  on  to  detail  the  sins  of  the  time  in  a  most  affect- 
We  shall  see  what  advantage  he  took  of 


THE   TERROR    OF  THE  LORD.  291 

his  opportunity,  by  his  words  to  such  as  had  been 
guilty  of  sleeping  during  divine  service.  ''  I  see  none 
Asleep  at  this  Time.  'T  is  a  Congregation  of  Hearers 
that  I  am  at  this  Time  Speaking  to.  This  very  Cir- 
cumstance awakens  a  Thought  in  me.  That  sleeping 
in  the  Assemblies  of  Zion,  when  it  is  indulged  and  not 
a  mere  Involuntary  surprisal  upon  Infirmity,  His  lit- 
terhj  a  Fault  and  offers  an  affront  to  Heaven.  But 
it  is  a  very  Epidemical  Miscarriage  in  the  Countrey. 
Now,  Syrs,  you  have  an  Earthquake  to  give  you  a 
push  like  that  of  the  Goads  given  of  old  by  the  Mas- 
ters of  the  Assemblies,  for  the  Awakening  of  the 
Drowsy  Sleepers  there.  An  earthquake  is  crying  in 
your  Ears,  What  meanest  thou,  O  sleeper  in  the  House 
of  God  ?  Oh,  No  more  sleeping  in  this  dreadful  place  ! 
It  may  soon  be  made  so."^  In  conclusion,  he  said 
somewhat  about  the  judgment  and  the  end  of  the 
world,  possibly  closing  the  service  with  the  forty-sixth 
Psalm,  which  he  puts  at  the  end  of  his  printed  ser- 
mon. 

This  service  lasted  until  two  o'clock.  Lieutenant- 
Governor  Dummer  was  doubtless  himself  present,  and 
recommended  further  services  at  the  Old  Church  at 
five  o'clock.  Such  were  held,  but  so  many  came  that 
another  audience  was  gathered  in  the  South  Church. 
These  continued  until  eight  o'clock.  Vast  congrega- 
tions were  present  in  both  churches,  and  the  minis- 
ters, Thomas  Foxcroft  and  Joseph  Sewall,  preached, 
the  latter  from  Psalm  iv.  4,  "  Stand  in  awe,  and  sin 
not,"  which  sermon  is  in  print. 

It  is  obvious  that  this  30th  of  October  was  practi- 
cally an  unannounced  fast  day  of  the  most  solemn 

1  The  Terror  of  the  Lcrrd,  etc.,  2<i  ed.  p.  16. 


292         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

character.  Elsewhere,  as  in  Haverhill,  it  was  also 
observed.  But  if  so,  it  was  only  the  beginning.  As 
on  previous  occasions,  at  the  motion  of  the  lieutenant- 
governor,  the  Thursday  lecture,  November  2,  was 
turned  into  a  special  fast  day,  not  only  by  the  churches 
in  Boston,  but  in  Charlestown,  Marblehead,  and  Brad- 
ford. The  Wednesday  had  been  observed  at  Brook- 
line,  Haverhill,  and  Ipswich,  and  Friday  was  the  day 
at  Cambridge,  Roxbury,  Newton,  Andover,  and  Wey- 
mouth. November  7  was  kept  at  Dorchester,  the 
16th  at  Hampton,  Rye,  and  other  New  Hampshire 
towns,  possibly  by  public  authority.  It  so  happened 
that  the  2d  of  November  had  been  appointed  thanks- 
giving day.  in  Connecticut,  and  the  9th  in  Massa- 
chusetts. Under  the  circumstances,  these  were  more 
like  fast  days.  A  proclamation  was  shortly  issued  in 
Massachusetts  for  a  public  fast  December  21.  Upon 
all  these  days,  sermons  suitable  to  this  event  were 
delivered,  as  well  as  some  others  on  the  Sundays  of 
November.  On  the  23d,  Thomas  Foxcroft  preached 
before  the  assembly  on  the  theme,  "  The  Voice  of  the 
Lord  from  the  Deep  Places  of  the  Earth."  Cotton 
Mather  soon  issued  his  book  entitled  "  Boanerges," 
designed  to  strengthen  the  good  impressions  produced, 
and  William  Cooper  printed  a  sermon  with  the  same 
purpose.  So,  for  several  months,  amid  a  deepening 
religious  feeling,  with  their  fears  repeatedly  awakened 
by  tremors  of  earthquake,  the  people  listened  to  the 
solemn  teachings  of  their  ministers.  They  were  threat- 
ened with  the  fate  of  the  Korahites,  and  some  seem 
verily  to  have  anticipated  the  end  of  the  world.  Cot- 
ton Mather  plainly  said,  "  The  smell  of  sulpher,  which 
is  affirmed  by  many  to  have  been  plain  imto  them, 


THE   TERROR    OF  THE  LORD.  293 

adds  to  a  Fearful  expectation  of  a  Fiery  Indignation 
in  Gods  Time  and  way  to  be  proceeded  in."  Many 
eyes  were  turned  toward  Boston,  as  the  metropolis,  in 
expectation  that,  if  they  were  to  be  swallowed  up,  the 
visitation  would  begin  thereabouts.  A  few  lines  from 
an  extravagant  poem^  which  was  printed  at  New  Lon- 
don, exhibits  by  multiplied  exclamations  this  linger- 
ing dread :  ^  — 

**  0  where  dwells  safety  on  this  crazy  Globe ! 
Should  this  (which  Heav'n  avert)  be  the  dire  Fate 
Of  these  fair  Fields  !  this  fair  Metropolis 
Blooming  and  Gay !     Should  this  fair  City  Sink  ! 
These  beauteous  Streets,  which  now,  even  now  we  feel 
Trembling  beneath  us  !     These  Ascending  Spires ! 
These  beauteous  Mansions,  Gardens,  pleasant  Walks, 
Where  springs  Delight  !     And  who  live  happy  here, 
Age,  Infancy,  and  where  fresh  blooming  Youth 
Hop'd  many  a  happy  Day  ;  Should  all  Sink  down, 
Should  all  be  Plung'd  deep  in  the  vast  Abyss 
Eternally  Absorpt  from  Mortal  sight ! 
Amazement  fills  the  Tho't !  " 

Surely  such  a  catastrophe,  which  appears  already  to 
have  overtaken  the  poet's  lines,  was  sufficient  to  arouse 
the  fears  of  aU  New  England. 

After  the  earthquake,  it  occurred  to  several  divines 
whose  sermons  were  printed  that  the  season  past  had 
been  full  of  warnings.  Had  not  the  spring  been  char- 
acterized by  "  a  gTievous  and  threatening  cold,"  with 
sickness  abroad?  Had  not  the  heat  been  excessive 
during  the  summer  months,  especially  from  July  28 
to  August  7,  the  like  scarcely  known  before,  and 
some  parts  of  the  harvest  cut  short  thereby?  Had 
there   not  been  a  remarkable  storm  of  thunder  and 

1  Some  Rude  Sf  Indigested  Thoughts  on  the  Majesty  of  God  In  the  \ 
Works  of  Nature :  Occasioned  by  that  Earthquake  Octob.  29th,  1727.  ] 
New  London,  1730,  16°,  pp.  (2)  12.    Prince  Lib.,  and  Conn.  Hist.  Soc. 


294         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

lightning  the  night  of  the  1st  of  August  ?  Had  not 
a  tempest  of  wind  arisen  September  16,  and  laid  waste 
many  fields,  uprooting  even  the  trees  of  the  forest? 
These  had  been  the  premonitory  frowns  of  God  upon 
them.  The  eJBEect  was  remarkable.  Churches  every- 
where were  at  least  outwardly  aroused.  Meeting- 
houses were  thronged.  Family  worship  was  set  up  in 
many  households.  "Ill  customs  were  broken  off." 
Eev.  William  Williams  testifies  that  for  several 
months  following  he  was  "  busied  in  conferences  with 
considerable  numbers  who  visited  him  [me]  on  the  in- 
tention of  joyning  to  the  Church,  and  of  young  people 
desiring  to  own  the  covenant."  Prince  says  that  many 
were  added  to  the  churches  everywhere,  from  twenty 
to  forty  on  a  single  Sabbath,  and  one  church  received 
above  one  hundred  and  fifty  in  three  weeks.  This 
latter  was  probably  the  church  in  Haverhill,  where,  as 
we  learn  from  a  letter  in  the  appendix  to  John  Cotton's 
sermon,  the  minister  was  employed  night  and  day  in 
discoursing  with  those  who  came  to  him  on  religious 
matters.  The  extant  church  records  show  large  addi- 
tions at  this  time.  But  there  was  another  side  to  be 
seen  later  on,  which  Hutchinson  puts  thus :  "  As  the 
fears  of  another  earthquake  went  off,  the  religious  im- 
pressions went  with  them,  and  they  who  had  been  the 
subjects  of  both  returned  to  their  former  course  of 
life."  ^  A  similar  opinion  is  given  in  Prince's  "  Chris- 
tian History  "  and  elsewhere,  as  that  of  Sewall,  Prince, 
Webb,  and  Cooper,  ^  and  it  was  urged  by  some  against 
the  revivals  of  Edwards's  time.    Many  doubtless  came 

1  Hutchinson's  Hist,  ii.  326,  327. 
#     2  Prince's  Christian  Hist.y  i.  114 ;  Edwards's  Narrative^  Preface  to 
3ded. 


THE   TERROR    OF  THE  LORD,  295 

into  the  churches  who  were  not  so  much  the  subjects 
of  fear  at  the  earthquake,  as  of  the  truth  preached 
afterwards,  some  of  whom  had  long  before  come  into 
the  Christian  estate.  But  whatever  view  may  be  en- 
tertained as  to  the  quality  of  the  results,  the  impartial 
student  must  surely  regard  this  as  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  awakenings  in  New  England  history,  both 
as  respects  its  cause  and  character. 

It  was,  moreover,  the  last  rekindling  of  the  reforma- 
tion movement  which  began  more  than  fifty  years  be- 
fore. Again  and  again  the  churches  had  sought  by  a 
course  of  vigorous  legislation  to  reform  the  people,  and 
they  had  failed.  It  was  not  so  to  be  done.  The  sins 
of  the  tune,  which  are  the  sins  of  aU  times,  were  de- 
nounced by  the  ministers.  Renewal  of  covenant  was 
again  made  a  practice,  sometimes  in  the  very  form 
of  1679  ;  and  though  there  may  have  been  a  temporary 
moral  upUft  in  society,  in  a  short  time  the  flood  fell 
to  that  level  which  the  character  of  the  people  could 
sustain. 

The  great  earthquake  of  November  18,  1755,  to 
which  we  now  turn,  did  not  resemble  this  former  one 
in  its  impressions  or  results.  There  had  been  lesser 
shocks  June  3  and  20,  1744  ;  and  fasts  had  been 
called  forth,^  but  the  effect  was  temporary.  In  1755 
there  were  changed  conditions.  There  had  been  no 
such  preparatory  forces  as  in  1727.  The  people  were 
engaged  in  a  war  which  diverted  their  minds  from 
religious  matters.  Besides,  the  body  of  the  people 
remembered  the  former  occasion,  and  their  natural 
fears  had  been  allayed  both  by  education  and  experi- 
ence. Many  of  the  divines  of  the  older  school  had 
^  Jane  28,  in  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire. 


296         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

passed  away,  a  noble  company  of  men,  —  Cotton 
Mather,  Benjamin  Colman,  William  Cooper,  and  others. 
The  thought  of  the  people  had  been  progressive,  and  the 
great  revivals  had  wrought  a  change  in  their  religious 
life.  They  knew  more  about  earthquakes.  '  Professor 
John  Winthrop  was  teaching  science  in  Harvard 
College.  So  they  were  not  circumstanced  to  receive 
the  impressions  of  1727.  In  some  respects  also  the 
customs  as  respects  fast  and  thanksgiving  days  had 
changed.  The  annual  days  had  become  institutional, 
and  the  special  appointment  was  not  so  common.  It 
demanded  more  extraordinary  reason.  Church  days 
were  stiU  observed,  but  for  the  most  part  they  had 
laid  aside  public  occurrences.  The  civil  authorities 
were  expected  to  appoint  a  day  if  it  was  warranted. 
Therefore  there  were  not  such  opportunities  at  hand 
for  kindling  a  general  religious  enthusiasm  at  short 
notice,  and  before  the  public  authorities  could  act  the 
interest  had  somewhat  abated. 

The  earthquake  of  1755  was  more  severe  than  that 
of  1727,  but  the  shock  was  not  repeated  at  intervals. 
It  was  soon  over,  and  the  fright  was  not  prolonged. 
It  came  at  quarter  after  four  o'clock  in  the  morning 
of  November  18.  Few  were  awake  at  that  hour,  but 
the  shaking  was  sufficient  to  rouse  every  one.  AU 
were  terror-stricken.  Some  shrieked,  and  others  cried 
for  mercy.  In  a  sermon  preached  at  East  Hartford, 
Conn.,  on  the  Sunday  following,  Rev.  Eliphalet  Wil- 
liams gives  this  description  of  it :  "I  doubt  not  .  .  . 
it  was  a  startling  Surprizal  to  the  most  of  you,  to  be 
Awak'd  out  of  your  Sleep  in  the  dead,  and  silence  of 
Night  with  the  mighty  Noise,  the  strong  paroxysm 
and  agitation  of  the  Globe :  your  Houses  rocking,  and 


THE   TERROR    OF  THE  LORD.  297 

cracking  over  your  Heads,  your  Beds  trembling  under 
you,  and  the  Earth  staggering,  and  reeling  to  and  fro 
like  a  drunken  man  and  seeming  to  threaten  to  Dis- 
close and  Ingulph  you  in  one  general  Ruin."  A  more 
accurate  account  of  the  shock  and  its  effects  is  fomid 
in  Professor  John  Winthrop's  lecture  on  the  event, 
delivered  the  week  following.^  The  damage  done  to 
walls,  chimneys,  and  articles  of  ware  was  considera- 
ble. All  are  agreed  that  it  was  an  awful  night.  The 
next  day,  at  eleven  o'clock,  a  service  was  held  at  the 
South  Church  in  Boston,  and  the  pastor,  Rev.  Joseph 
Sewall,  preached  from  the  thirty-sixth  verse  of  the 
thii-teenth  chapter  of  Mark,  '^  Lest  coming  suddenly 
he  find  you  sleeping."  As  on  the  former  occasion, 
too,  the  Thursday  lecture  was  turned  into  a  fast. 
Doubtless  the  same  character  was  given  to  the  lectures 
elsewhere,  and  the  following  Sunday  it  was  the  theme 
of  discourses.2  Yet  it  is  noticeable  that  the  excite- 
ment had  even  then  subsided,  notwithstanding  a  slight 
tremor  the  night  before.  It  was  the  8th  of  January 
before  Massachusetts  had  a  public  fast,  and  then  not 
exclusively  on  account  of  the  earthquake.  Besides  a 
mention  in  the  spring  fasts,  this  seems  to  have  been 
the  extent  of  the  humiliation.  Of  course  the  same 
solemn  warnings  were  uttered  by  the  ministers,  but 
mingled  with  reflections  of  a  more  cheering  character. 
Thomas    Prince,  whose    sermon    on  earthquakes  was 

^  Winthrop's  Lecture  on  Earthquakes ;  Babson's  Hist,  of  Gloucester^ 
p.  346.  "  It  is  thought  the  shock  was  greater  than  in  1727.  The 
earth  moved  like  the  waves  of  the  sea.  The  creatures  irrational  as 
well  as  rational  were  terribly  frightened."  —  Rev.  Israel  Loring's 
Diary ^  MS.  Notes,  Conn.  Hist.  Soc. 

"^  We  have  met  with  sermons  preached  Sunday,  November  -2.3,  by 
the  following:  Mather  Byles,  James  Cogswell,  Jonathan  Mayhew, 
Eliphalet  Williams,  besides  several  other  lectures  and  Sunday  sermons. 


298         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

then  reprinted,  and  who  also  issued  "  An  Improvement 
of  the  Doctrine  of  Earthquakes,"  charged  Professor 
Winthrop  with  "  diverting  the  minds  of  the  people  by 
his  physical  explanation."  ^  Doubtless  this  was  true ; 
but  the  intimation  in  his  answer  was  just ;  the  divine 
had  himself  taken  a  more  scientific  view  of  the  sub- 
ject than  before.  Progress,  like  a  wave,  bears  men 
onward  unconsciously  to  themselves.  The  day  was 
passed  when  the  people  would  fear  an  earthquake,  as 
"  the  terror  of  the  Lord,"  and  stand  in  expectation 
of  being  swallowed  up  in  a  yawning  abyss. 

1  See  Prince's  Sermon  and  Improvement,  etc. ;    Letter  in  reply  to 
Winthrop  on  Earthquakes :   Boston  Gazette,  January  26, 1756. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE   CONQUEST   OF   CANADA. 

1744-1749.     1755-1760. 

The  conquest  of  Canada  had  come  to  be  recognized, 
at  the  time  of  which  we  write,  as  essential  to  the  con- 
tinued peace  of  New  England.  It  was  the  conclusion 
forced  upon  them  by  the  Indian  wars.  We  come 
now  to  consider  the  special  fasts  and  thanksgivings 
of  two  other  wars,  which,  if  measured  by  the  actual 
hostilities  in  New  England,  were  of  five  years  each, 
namely,  "  King  George's  war,"  or  "  Governor  Shir- 
ley's war,"  1744  to  1749,  and  the  "  Old  French  war," 
or  "French  and  Indian  war,"  1755  to  1760. 

The  first  of  these  was  declared  in  March,  1744,  and 
the  attack  was  made  on  the  English  post  at  Canso  on 
the  13th  of  May.  When  this  news  reached  Boston, 
inunediate  preparations  were  made  to  send  reinforce- 
ments to  Annapolis  Royal.  Thereupon  Governor 
Shirley  issued  a  proclamation  for  a  fast  to  be  June  28, 
four  days  before  the  force  sailed  from  Boston.  The 
same  day  was  kept  in  New  Hampshire.  In  Connecti- 
cut the  15th  of  August  was  a  public  fast,  "  on  account 
of  the  war,"  though  we  know  of  no  copy  of  the  procla- 
mation, and  the  Wadsworth  manuscript  diary  is  the 
only  evidence  of  the  fact.  An  additional  cause  for 
humiliation  was  found  in  the  earthquake,  which  was 
on  the  3d  of  June,  the  day  after  the  war  was  declared 


800  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

in  Boston  ;  and,  strange  to  relate,  the  opening  year  of 
the  second  war  was  also  remarkable  in  the  same  way. 
During  the  summer  efforts  were  made  to  secure  the 
neutrality  of  the  Indians,  but  these  hopes,  which  were 
noted  in  the  thanksgivings  of  the  autumn,  proved  to 
be  delusive.  However,  they  had  special  cause  for 
gratitude  in  the  exceptional  harvest  of  that  season, 
upon  which  ministers  afterwards  dilated  as  God's  pro- 
vision for  the  war.  If  it  was  so,  it  did  not  hold  out. 
Success  attended  the  reinforcements,  and  this  contrib- 
uted to  the  expressions  of  thanksgiving. 

The  winter  following  witnessed  the  preparations  for 
the  expedition  against  Louisburg,  which  had  been 
proposed  by  Governor  Shirley.  It  was  a  daring  ven- 
ture, and  was  at  first  received  with  astonishment,  but 
finally  adopted.  Aid  was  promised  from  the  other 
colonies,  which  of  course  extended  the  interest  in  fast- 
ing and  prayer.  Massachusetts  set  apart  February 
28,  1744-5,  and  upon  that  occasion  Samuel  Checkley 
preached  his  sermon  on  "  Prayer  a  Duty  when  God's 
people  go  forth  to  War."  There  had  not  been  for  many 
years  such  earnestness  as  was  displayed  that  winter. 
"  Who  can  bring  us  into  the  def  enced  City  ?  "  was  the 
preacher's  cry.  "  Who  can  lead  us  into  the  strong 
castle  ?  Canst  not  thou,  O  Lord  ?  ...  In  thy  name 
would  we  set  up  our  banners."  Thomas  Prince,  in 
his  valuable  thanksgiving  sermon  upon  this  expedition, 
preached  July  18,  1745,  gives  us  further  information 
as  to  the  earnestness  of  their  supplications.  "  Those 
who  were  venturing  into  the  danger,"  he  says,  "  seem'd 
to  be  f  idlest  of  trust  in  God  and  courage.  Many  fill'd 
their  vessels  with  Prayers,  and  asking  ours,  they  threw 
themselves   into    the  divine  protection,  in  the  name 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  CANADA.  301 

of  God  they  set  up  their  banner,  and  away  they  sail'd. 
Pray  for  us,  and  we  '11  fight  for  you,  was  the  valiant 
and  endearing  language  wherewith  they  left  us."  He 
also  says :  "  It  gave  further  ground  of  hope,  to  see 
such  a  spirit  of  supplication  given  to  many  in  this 
town  and  land  on  this  occasion.  For,  besides  the 
solemn  days  of  publick  and  general  prayer  appointed 
by  these  three  governments,  there  were  particular  days 
observed  in  several  congregations.  There  were  also, 
in  divers  towns,  religious  societies,  some  of  women  as 
well  as  others  of  men,  who  met  every  week  more  pri- 
vately to  pray  for  the  preservation  and  success  of  their 
dear  countrymen,  and  I  have  been  well  informed  of  their 
extraordinary  fervency,  faith  and  wresthngs,  .  .  .  that 
God  should  preserve,  direct  and  spirit  our  friends,  and 
surprise  and  terrify  our  enemies,  and  make  them  yield 
without  much  blood-shed,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  the 
work  and  glory  might  appear  to  be  his  alone."  ^  It 
will  be  remembered  that  this  was  during  the  Whit- 
fieldian  interest,  and  the  prayer  circles  referred  to 
were  then  common.  Public  fasts  are  mentioned  as 
kept  in  three  governments.  These  were  Massachu- 
setts, New  Hampshire,  and  Connecticut.  Besides  the 
one  of  February  28,  we  know  of  none  in  Massachu- 
setts until  the  spring  fast  of  April  4.  We  have  no 
dates  of  such  in  New  Hampshire,  but  they  may  have 
been  the  same.  In  Connecticut,  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  March  resolved  that  "instead  of  the  tenth 
day  in  April,  mentioned  in  the  proclamation  for  a 
Fast,  be  inserted  the  3d  day  of  April,  and  also  that 
the  last  Wednesday  of  April  next  be  kept  as  a  day  of 

^  Eoctraordinary  Events  the  Doings  of  God,  p.  23 ;   see,  also,  Dr. 
Chauncy's  thanksgiving"  sennon. 


302        FAST  AND  THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

fasting  and  prayer  to  implore  the  blessing  of  Almighty 
God  on  the  expedition  against  Cape  Breton  &c  and 
that  his  Honour  the  Governor  issue  out  proclamation 
accordingly."  These  two  days  were  observed.^  The 
spring  proclamation  in  Massachusetts  was  issued  March 
25,  the  day  after  the  forces  departed,  —  "  which  forces 
are  now,  thro'  the  Favour  of  Divine  Providence,  em- 
barked and  have  taken  their  Departure  from  this 
Place."  A  lecture  fast  was  also  kept  May  2,  on  which 
day,  it  was  afterwards  remarked,  "  the  grand  Battery 
at  Cape  Breton  was  delivered  up."  ^  After  a  time  of 
anxious  waiting,  the  good  news  of  the  fall  of  Louisburg 
arrived  in  the  early  morning  of  July  3.  Great  were 
the  rejoicings.  Crowds  thronged  the  streets,  and  the 
joy  increased  through  the  day.  In  the  evening  there 
was  a  general  illumination  of  bonfires  and  fireworks, 
A  public  thanksgiving  was  in  order,  which  in  Massa- 
chusetts was  July  18,  and  in  Connecticut  July  25. 
The  news  was  received  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
New  Hampshire,  then  in  session,  on  the  5th  of  July, 
and  thereupon  they  appropriated  "  twenty-five  pounds 
to  make  publick  entertainments  in  y®  town  of  Portsm® 
&  at  his  Majesty's  Fort  Will"^  &  Mary."  Doubtless 
also  a  special  thanksgiving  was  ordered.  Of  Thomas 
Prince's  sermon  July  18,  which  went  through  eight 
editions,  we  have  already  spoken.  It  is  the  most  val- 
uable historical  discourse  on  the  war,  of  which  he  gives 
a  history,  not  forgetting  to  recite  the  remarkable  provi- 
dences of  God  which  set  the  divine  approval  upon  it. 

^  Conn.  Col.  Bee,  ix.  99.  Rev.  Daniel  Wadsworth,  of  Hartford, 
preached  April  3  from  Deut.  xxiii.  9,  and  April  24  from  Eecles.  ix. 
18  (MS.  Sermons,  Conn.  Hist.  Soc). 

2  John  PhiUips's  MS.  Diary :  Hist,  of  Old  South  Church,  Hill,  i.  565  n. 


THE   CONQUEST  OF  CANADA.  303 

Charles  Chauncy,  minister  o£  the  First  Church  in 
Boston,  and  Thomas  Prentice,  of  Charlestown,  also 
delivered  historical  sermons  on  that  day,  which  are  in 
print.  Only  one  thanksgiving  sermon  of  Connecticut 
is  known  to  have  been  printed,  that  of  Jared  Eliot,  of 
Clinton,  of  rarity  and  interest,  though  that  of  Daniel 
Wadsworth,  minister  of  the  First  Church  in  Hartford, 
survives  in  manuscript,  bemg  from  1  Sam.  vii.  12.^ 
The  ministers  everywhere  manifested  great  interest 
in  this  expedition.  One  of  their  nimiber,  Samuel 
Moody,  who  accompanied  the  troops,  is  said  to  have 
cut  down  the  papal  images  with  his  own  hands,  and 
preached  a  thanksgiving  sermon  in  th^ir  sanctuary. 
They  esteemed  it  as  a  war  against  Antichrist,  and 
doubtless  had  greater  hopes  of  it  than  were  warranted. 
The  expedition  was  successfully  carried  out,  too,  not- 
withstanding the  failure  to  keep  it  a  secret.^  All  the 
glory  of  this  venture  was  afterwards  appropriated  by 
England,  and  Louisburg  was  restored  to  the  French. 

On  the  23d  of  August,  1745,  war  was  declared 
against  the  eastern  Indians.  In  the  absence  of  Shir- 
ley, the  lieutenant-governor,  Spencer  Phips,  issued  a 
proclamation  for  a  fast  to  be  September  19.  The  pre- 
amble thus  states  the  situation  :  "  Notwithstanding  the 
Methods  used  by  this  Government  to  retain  the  Indian 

^  In  his  sermon  that  day  Daniel  Wadsworth  says :  "  To  our  last  ad- 
vices of  all  ye  men  y*  went  from  this  Colony  there  were  but  three 
dead,  and  they  fell  not  by  ye  hand  of  ye  enemy  but  died  of  sickness, 
and  that  of  those  y*  went  from  this  town  not  one  had  died."  —  MS. 
Ser.,  Conn.  Hist.  Soc. 

2  See  Prince's  sermon  July  18,  page  21.  The  assembly  attempted 
to  keep  it  secret  until  all  the  plans  were  perfected,  but  it  was  betrayed 
by  a  man  who  asked  divine  guidance  in  prayer.  Jared  Eliot  says  in 
his  sermon,  "  I  believe  that  before  this  the  French  at  Canada  and  Cape 
Breton  know  all  the  affair  as  well  as  we." 


304         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

Tribes  inhabiting  the  Eastern  Parts  of  this  Province, 
.  .  .  they  have  at  length  perpetrated  cruel  Murthers 
and  other  Outrages  upon  the  most  innocent  People 
inhabiting  our  Frontiers ;  and  other  Murthers  have 
been  also  committed  by  some  of  the  Western  Tribes 
of  Indians  on  the  Inhabitants  of  the  inland  Parts 
of  this  Province,  which  Cruelties  and  Violations  of 
Treaty  have  constrained  this  Government  to  declare 
war  against  the  said  Indians."  ^  The  service  the  people 
were  urged  to  on  this  occasion  was  calculated  to  try 
their  faith.  It  was  to  "  pray  for  the  withdrawing  of 
the  affections  of  the  Indians  from  the  French."  The 
day  before  it,  they  had  additional  reasons  to  be  dis- 
couraged in  such  a  request,  but  the  fathers  never 
recognized  anything  as  impossible. 

Public  attention  was  next  diverted  to  affairs  in  Eng- 
land. The  thanksgiving  proclamation  in  Massachu- 
setts December  5,  1745,  mentioned  the  return  of  the 
king  to  England  in  time  to  repress  a  rebellion  by 
enemies  of  the  crown.  The  rebel  was  Prince  Charles, 
known  as  the  Pretender,  and  the  affair  was  specially 
interesting  to  the  New  Englanders  because  it  was  an 
attempt  in  behalf  of  popery.  In  the  spring  fasts  of 
1746  in  all  the  colonies  this  was  prominent.  Indeed, 
there  was  a  fast  in  Virginia  February  26, 1745-6,  on 
this  account,  and  later  on  a  thanksgiving  in  Pennsylva- 
nia July  24,  1746.  Massachusetts  observed  the  14th 
of  August  for  the  victory,  and  thereon  Thomas  Prince 
delivered  a  discourse  reviewing  the  affair,  and  show- 
ing what  a  marked  deliverance  had  been  wrought  in 
behalf  of  the  Protestant  religion. 

^  For  an  account  of  these  atrocities,  see  Drake's  French  and  Indian 
War,  pp.  77-84. 


THE   CONQUEST  OF  CANADA,  305 

The  Slimmer  of  1746  passed  thus  amid  alternate 
hopes  and  fears.  In  the  month  of  September  rumors 
were  abroad  of  a  French  fleet  hovering  off  the  coast, 
designed  against  Boston.  It  was  soon  ascertained 
that  ships  had  been  seen  to  the  eastward,  and  a  ver- 
itable armada,  under  the  Duke  d'Anville,  was  expected 
at  any  time.  The  New  England  metropolis  was  in 
consternation.  Troops  were  hastily  mustered  for 
defense.  A  public  fast  was  set  for  October  16,  and 
their  fears  were  wrought  into  its  services.  Doubtless 
they  would  have  been  realized,  too,  to  the  fullest  extent, 
had  it  not  been  for  a  tempest  similar  to  that  which  had 
destroyed  the  Spanish  Armada.  Who  will  say  that 
this  was  not  truly  a  divine  deliverance?  So  Thomas 
Prince  thought,  and  on  the  thanksgiving  November  27, 
1746,  he  had  an  opportunity  to  detail  it,  as  he  did  in 
liis  printed  sermon,  "  The  Salvations  of  God  in  1746." 
That  fleet  he  sets  forth  as  the  object  of  divine  ven- 
geance. The  facts  were,  that  it  suffered  delays,  a 
fever  wasted  the  troops  until  thousands  were  buried 
in  the  deep,  the  treacherous  shoals  engulfed  them, 
their  commander  died  of  poison,  his  successor  fell  on 
his  sword,  the  rumor  of  an  English  fleet  frightened 
them,  and  at  last  a  furious  storm  of  wind,  rain,  and 
hail  arose  and  scattered  them  as  the  chaff.  The 
preacher  makes  much  of  the  remarkable  coincidence 
that  it  was  on  the  day  of  their  fast  that  the  glorious 
God  "  put  a  total  end  to  their  mischievous  enterprise." 
"  Thus  when  on  our  solemn  Day  of  General  Prayer* 
we  expressly  cried  to  the  Lord,  '  Let  God  arise, 
let  his  enemies  be  scattered,  .  .  . '  then  his  own  Arm 
brought  Salvation  to  us  and  his  Fury  upheld  him. 
He  trode  down  our  Enemies  in  his  Anger,  he  made 


306         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

them  drunk  in  his  Fury,  and  he  brought  down  their 
Strength  to  the  Earth.  Terrors  took  hold  on  them  as 
Waters  :  A  Tempest  bore  them  away  in  the  Night :  The 
East  Wind  carried  them  away,  and  they  departed ; 
and  with  a  Storm  he  hurled  them  out  of  their  Place." 

We  are  not  aware  that  any  special  fasts  were  set 
in  1747,  until  those  of  January,  1747-8,  though  the 
spring  fasts  were  mournful  enough  and  the  autumn 
thanksgivings  less  joyful  than  usual  on  account  of  the 
continued  depredations  of  the  savages.  The  28th  of 
January  was  a  Massachusetts  fast,  partly  on  account 
of  the  war,  but  principally  for  the  burning  of  their 
Court  House  on  the  9th  of  December,  several  sermons 
upon  which  are  in  print.^  So  the  trouble  went  on 
until  the  summer  of  1749  ;  and  though  the  Treaty  of 
Aix-la-Chapelle  had  been  signed  six  months  before, 
peace  was  not  proclaimed  in  Boston  until  the  10  th  of 
May.  The  special  days  of  those  years  of  course  men- 
tioned the  war,  but  it  was  overshadowed  by  the  drought 
then  upon  them. 

The  treaty  of  peace  was  iii  fact  hardly  more  than  an 
armistice  for  six  years.  None  of  the  disputed  ques- 
tions had  been  settled,  and  the  American  colonies 
could  not  rest  until  Canada  was  conquered.  And 
here  begins  the  story  of  the  "French  and  Indian 
war,"  with  hostilities  in  the  Ohio  valley  in  1754,  but 
more  particularly,  as  respects  New  England,  with  the 
operations  determined  upon  by  the  council  of  colonial 
governors  at  Alexandria  in  the  spring  of  1755.  At 
this  time  the  French  commanded  the  territory  from 
the  eastern  provinces  westward  along  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  the  Great  Lakes,  and  southward  in  the  Ohio  and 
1  See  BibUography,  Nos.  107,  108,  and  109.    . 


THE   CONQUEST  OF  CANADA.  307 

Mississippi  valleys  to  the  Gulf.  To  break  the  guerdon 
four  expeditions  were  planned:  General  Braddock 
was  to  go  against  Fort  Duquesne ;  Governor  Shirley 
against  the  French  post  at  Niagara  ;  General  Johnson 
against  Crown  Point ;  and  Colonel  Monckton  to  the 
eastward  against  Nova  Scotia.  In  all  except  the  first 
New  England  troops  had  a  part,  and  so  the  people 
were  affected  by  their  successes  or  failures.  Such 
spring  fasts  of  1755  as  have  been  recovered  indicate 
that  the  colonists  were  sensible  of  the  gravity  of  the 
undertaking ;  but  New  England  was  stupefied  and 
discouraged.  They  were  burdened  with  debt.  Some 
were  not  favorable  to  the  enterprise,  having  little  con- 
fidence in  the  leaders,  and  thinking  it  better  to  await 
the  more  vigorous  exertions  of  England  for  their  pro- 
tection. The  ministers  saw  the  storm  gathering,  and, 
though  mourning  over  the  sins  which  they  feared  had 
summoned  the  divine  punishment,  they  preached  and 
prayed  with  imusual  vigor.  The  customary  fasts 
were  proclaimed.  In  Massachusetts  they  were  pray- 
ing July  3  for  the  "  divers  expeditions  projected  and 
now  in  prosecution  for  the  removal  of  the  encroach- 
ments" of  the  French.  The  General  Assembly  of 
Connecticut  in  May  desired  the  governor  to  order  a 
fast,  because  ''  a  considerable  body  of  troops  are  raised 
and  raising  .  .  .  and  are  gone  and  going  forth  for  the 
defence  of  his  Majesty's  just  rights  and  dominions." 
The  day  was  July  9.  There  was  a  fast  in  New 
York  in  August,  and  in  Rhode  Island  some  churches 
fasted,  as  that  at  Westerly  August  27,  especially  for 
the  Crown  Point  expedition  in  which  some  of  them 
had  relations.  To  the  departing  troops,  then  and  at 
intervals  thereafter,  sermons  of   encouragement   and 


308        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

cheer  were  preached,  many  of  which  are  in  print. 
But  in  the  very  midst  of  such  expectations,  the  news 
came  of  Braddock's  overwhehning  defeat.  In  Massa- 
chusetts, at  least,  there  was  a  public  fast  on  the  28th 
of  August,  in  humiliation  over  this  "  awful  rebuke 
of  the  Divine  Providence."  Still  they  had  hopes  for 
the  Crown  Point  expedition  near  the  point  of  execu- 
tion. The  engagement  was  upon  the  11th  of  Septem- 
ber, and  the  news  of  the  defeat  of  the  French  under 
Baron  Dieskau  was  received  in  time  to  temper  the 
autumn  thanksgivings,  though  it  yielded  no  permanent 
results. 

In  1756  the  sword  was  unsheathed  in  Europe,  and 
to  this  the  colonies'  owed  a  more  vigorous  prosecution 
of  the  wars  in  America,  by  which  they  were  eventually 
to  reap  lasting  benefits.  Great  plans  were  made  to 
further  the  expeditions  of  the  previous  year,  but  it 
was  difficult  to  raise  troops,  and  money  was  scarce. 
So  after  all,  nothing  was  done.  It  was  a  very  trying 
year  to  the  people  on  account  of  this  uncertainty  and 
delay.  A  reference  to  the  Calendar  will  show  that 
there  was  unusual  fasting.  In  Massachusetts,  Janu- 
ary 8  was  for  the  earthquake  and  the  war,  and  be- 
sides the  spring  fast  April  29,  they  kept  July  22. 
New  Hampshire  also  kept  the  latter  date.  Connecti- 
cut had  two  extra  fasts,  July  7  and  October  7  ;  Rhode 
Island,  too,  for  the  first  time  kept  them  company  on 
May  20.  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  each  had  one 
in  May.  Fasts  seem  to  have  come  into  fashion  gen- 
erally. The  year  following,  these  were  ^-epeated,  but 
nothing  special  transpired. 

With  the  year  1758,  however,  and  the  coming  of 
William  Pitt  into  power  in  England,  their  hopes  rose, 


THE   CONQUEST  OF  CANADA.  309 

and  the  tide  of  disaster,  which  had  been  against  them, 
turned.  In  the  month  of  June  the  English  fleet  an- 
chored off  Louisburg,  the  object  of  their  first  assault. 
They  had  a  strong  force,  and,  what  had  hitherto  been 
lacking,  competent  officers,  —  Admiral  Boscawen  and 
Generals  Amherst  and  Wolfe.  The  exploits  that  fol- 
lowed are  famous  in  history.  On  the  26th  of  July 
the  fortress  surrendered,  and  upon  the  receipt  of  the 
news,  a  special  thanksgiving  was  kept  in  Massachu- 
setts September  14.  But  the  colonists  had  learned  to 
be  moderate. in  their  rejoicings,  fearing  a  disappoint- 
ment, and  they  doubtless  reflected  that  once  before,  at 
great  expense  and  sacrifice,  they  had  taken  that  same 
fortress,  only  to  see  it  restored.  In  the  Massachu- 
setts proclamation,  the  governor,  while  recognizing 
the  "great  and  signal  success  to  such  of  His  Ma- 
jesty's Forces  as  have  been  employ 'd  for  the  Reduction 
of  the  Island  of  Cape  Breton,"  yet  recommended  prayer 
for  the  "  momentous  affairs  of  the  War  that  are  still 
depending."  The  rejoicing  over  this  victory  was  great 
in  England,  where  there  were  demonstrations  and  a 
public  thanksgiving.  A  recent  writer  upon  this  event 
says  of  New  England,  "  The  joy  and  delight  of  the 
English  colonists  knew  no  bounds,  finding  vent  largely 
in  numberless  thanksgiving  services  and  prayer  as- 
semblies, the  records  of  which  have  come  down  to  us 
in  innumerable  editions  of  their  most  popular  preachers' 
addresses,  which  were  ordered  to  be  printed  at  the 
public  expense."  ^  This  is  surely  a  most  extravagant 
statement.  The  rejoicing  was  nowhere  so  exuberant. 
We  find  no  thanksgiving  sermon  that  was  printed  at 
the  public  expense  ;  the  thanksgivings  were  not  "  in- 

1  Hart's  Fall  of  New  France,  p.  86. 


310        FAST  AND  THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

numerable,"  and  those  sermons  which  were  preached 
have  not  been  printed.  The  autumn  thanksgiving  in 
Massachusetts  November  23  brought  out  two  sermons 
from  Jonathan  Mayhew  on  the  war,  which  were  printed, 
and  one  from  Jason  Haven,  of  Dedham ;  but  the  best 
bibliographical  lists  and  careful  search  show  none  of 
the  14th  of  September.  The  autumn  proclamations 
were  quite  moderate,  and  all  that  was  generally  agreed 
on  was  thus  set  forth  in  Mayhew's  sermon:  "It  is 
manifest,  notwithstanding  some  strange  delays,  de- 
feats and  disgraces,  .  .  .  that  the  war  has  been  prose- 
cuted the  last  year,  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  with 
uncoromon  vigor,  and  that  the  advantages  gained  both 
by  sea  and  land,  have  been  very  considerable." 

The  year  1759  was  the  decisive  year  of  the  war. 
Three  armies  were  in  the  field.  One  was  sent  against 
Fort  Niagara ;  another,  under  General  Amherst,  was  to 
move  northward  from  Lake  Champlain,  and  down  the 
St.  Lawrence  River,  to  join  the  third  under  General 
WoMe  at  Quebec.  All  were  successful,  though  the  de- 
lay to  the  second  left  the  greatest  undertaking  for  the 
third  unaided.  These  were  the  burden  of  petitions  at 
the  spring  fasts,  and  a  special  day  of  prayer  was  kept 
in  Massachusetts  June  28,  and  one  about  the  same 
time  in  Connecticut.  The  story  of  Wolfe's  exploits 
is  a  household  tale.  His  brave  soldiers  chmbed  to  the 
Heights  of  Abraham,  and  there,  in  the  most  renowned 
action  of  all  the  French  wars,  on  the  13th  of  Sep- 
tember, the  hero  of  the  English  army  lost  his  life. 
But  he  had  given  the  greatest  blow  to  the  French 
power  in  Canada,  and  upon  the  27th  instant  a  thanks- 
giving service  was  held  in  the  chapel  of  the  Ursu- 
lines,  in  Quebec,  to  celebrate  the  victory.     Eli  Daw- 


THE   CONQUEST  OF  CANADA,  311 

son,  chaplain  of  his  Majesty's  ship  Sterling  Castle, 
preached  a  sermon  on  that  occasion,  which  was  printed 
in  London.  In  a  few  weeks  the  news  reached  Boston. 
A  thanksgiving  sermon  was  preached  before  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  on  the  16th  of  October,  by  Samuel 
Cooper,  minister  of  the  Brattle  Street  Church.  An 
extract  from  tliis  shows  how  important  the  event  was 
esteemed :  "  I  know  not  how  to  express  the  impor- 
tance of  that  success  ^vith  which  it  has  pleased  God  to 
bless  His  Majesty's  Arms,  and  yet  I  feel  it,  and  so 
I  doubt  not  does  every  one  in  this  Assembly.  Joy 
sparkles  in  every  eye.  Triumph  sits  upon  every  face. 
.  .  .  God  has  heard  our  prayers,  and  those  of  our 
progenitors.  We  behold  the  day  which  they  desired 
to  see,  but  saw  it  not.  We  have  received  a  salvation 
from  Heaven,  greater  perhaps  than  any  since  the 
foundation  of  the  Country.  The  power  of  Canada  is 
broken.  Its  Capital  is  reduced,  and  the  British  Ban- 
ners float  triumphant  upon  the  Walls  of  Quebec  !  " 
A  public  thanksgiving  was  immediately  ordered  for 
the  25th  instant,  in  Massachusetts,  and  the  same  day 
was  kept  in  Rhode  Island.  Doubtless  the  annual 
thanksgiving  in  Connecticut  November  15  answered 
the  same  purpose,  and  November  10  in  New  Hamp- 
shire. Rhode  Island,  too,  proclaimed  a  thanksgiving 
November  22,  and  Massachusetts  kept  its  annual  on 
the  29th,  by  a  coincidence,  the  very  day  which  was 
a  thanksgiving  in  England.  The  victory  was  still 
further  commemorated  in  the  colonies,  in  response  to  a 
letter  from  Whitehall,  November  13,  with  the  royal 
proclamation  inclosed. ^     Connecticut,  having  had,  as 

1  The  letter  and  proclamation  are  printed  in  the  Penn.  Archives,  iii. 
90,  691.     The  proclamation  in  broadside  is  in  the  Mass.  Hist.  See. 


312         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

we  judge,  no  special  day,  kept  the  6th  of  March  ;  but 
perhaps  that  of  October  25  was  made  to  answer  for 
Massachusetts,  as  we  find  no  clue  to  any  other.  Of 
the  sermons  preached  on  these  days,  a  number  are  in 
print,  and  their  authors  and  titles  are  found  in  the 
Bibliography.  They  are  all  exultant  panegyrics  in 
praise  of  the  heroism  of  General  Wolfe,  the  bravery 
of  the  English  troops,  and  above  all,  they  abound  in 
acknowledgments  of  divine  favor. 

In  the  following  year  the  war  was  brought  to  a 
close,  so  far  as  it  concerned  the  American  colonies. 
The  French  failed  to  retake  Quebec,  and  fell  back  on 
Montreal,  where  at  last,  on  the  10th  of  September,  all 
Canada  was  surrendered  to  the  English.  This  caused 
the  series  of  October  thanksgivings  that  year,  and 
brought  out  an  additional  lot  of  war  sermons,  which, 
with  those  of  the  preceding  year,  constitute  an  impor- 
tant contribution  to  the  history  of  the  war.^  Others 
were  added  to  the  nimiber  before  the  peace  of  1763, 
when  we  hear  the  last  of  the  trials  brought  upon  New 
England  by  the  French. 

The  ministers  understood  perfectly  the  significance 
of  this  conquest.  To  them  it  had  its  religious  phase, 
to  be  sure.  It  was  a  war  against  Antichrist.  They 
cared  not  for  territory,  but  desired  to  see  the  Roman 
Catholic  religion  banished  from  the  continent.  Some 
went  so  far  as  to  regard  the  war  as  the  final  overthrow 

1  Besides  these  in  print,  the  following  are  in  manuscript :  Nathan 
Fiske,  November  15,  1759,  An. ;  Sol.  Williams,  November  15,  1759, 
March  6,  1760,  and  November  27, 1760,  Ct. ;  John  Eells,  October  23, 
1760,  November  26,  1761,  and  November  18,  1762,  Ct.;  Justus  For- 
ward, December  9,  1762.  H. 


THE   CONQUEST  OF  CANADA.  313 

of  Babylon.  1  But  in  the  main,  they  were  broad- 
minded  men,  as  much  so  as  any  of  the  time,  and  re- 
garded the  English  influence  and  power  in  Canada  as 
most  likely  to  insure  their  prosperity,  to  preserve 
peace,  and  further  the  welfare  of  the  Indians.  Yet 
this  they  did  not  see,  —  how  it  was  preparing  them  for 
the  struggle  for  independence,  teaching  them  to  war, 
and  increasing  their  fortifications.  They  rejoiced,  as 
they  had  reason  to,  after  so  many  years  of  bitter  expe- 
rience, —  sacrifices  in  money  and  men,  hopeless  cam- 
paigns in  winter's  snow  and  summer's  heat,  and  the 
wearing  uncertainty  of  the  issue.  So  they  entered 
into  the  heritage  of  their  fathers'  toils,  and  with 
happy  hearts  sang  their  "  New  Thanksgiving  Song."  ^ 

"  With  Feasting  and  Thanksgiving 
Our  grateful  Hearts  are  fed 
Whicli  gratifies  the  living 
And  can't  offend  the  Dead." 

^  See  Strange  and  Wonderful  Predictions,  etc.,  issued  in  1759  as  a 
broadside  by  Fowle  and  Draper,  copy  in  Am.  Antiq.  Soc.  Lib.  These 
are  attributed  to  Rev.  Christopher  Love,  who  was  beheaded  in  1651, 
but  erroneously,  as  the  original  of  his  predictions  shows. 

2  Canada  Forever.  New  Thanksgiving  Song.  Broadside  printed  at 
Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  in  1759 :  Am.  Antiq.  Soc.  Lib. 


CHAPTER  XXn. 

SPELLS    OF   WEATHEB. 

1717-1749. 

•*  The  Clouds  their  watery  Buckets  fill,  but 
Where  they  will  be  emptied  I  cannot  tell. 
Nor  no  man  else  since  Adam  fell." 

Ames^  Almanack f  July,  1749. 

The  almanac,  as  most  readers  are  aware,  was  once 
the  liighly  prized  companion  of  the  New  England  fire- 
side. It  used  to  hang  upon  a  peg  near  the  chimney 
corner,  and  there  it  reigned  as  prophet,  wit,  and  sage. 
About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  —  before 
the  newspaper  was  a  common  visitor  in  rural  districts, 
and  after  the  almanac  had  been  an  indispensable 
acquisition  in  housekeeping  for  nearly  fifty  years, — 
there  wks  manifest  such  a  general  regard  for  its  prog- 
nostications upon  the  weather  that  one  might  almost 
characterize  it  as  superstition.^  That  same  trait  of 
human  nature  which  has  ever  enticed  men  to  consult 
oracles  and  wizards  won  our  fathers  to  the  persuasion 
that  the  almanac-maker  knew  somewhat  of  the  future. 
The  one  instance  in  which  his  prophecy  proved  true 
wiped  out  the  disgrace  of  his  many  failures  ;  and  the 
genius  of  his  business  was  in  recording  such  ambigu- 

^  Almanacs  were  of  course  printed  in  New  England  mnch  earlier 
than  this,  but  this  household  regard  was  a  long  time  in  reaching  its 
height.  Almanacks  of  Nathaniel  Ames^  Brigg^  ;  Hist,  of  Am.  Lit.y 
Tyler,ii.  c.13.5,  7. 


SPELLS  OF  WEATHER.  816 

ous  predictions  as  might  afterwards  serve  either  to 
heighten  his  fame  or  conceal  his  error.  In  the  hot 
and  dry  summer  of  1762,  —  for  which,  by  the  bye, 
Massachusetts  kept  a  public  fast  July  28,^  and  possi- 
bly Connecticut  also,  August  18, —  we  may  readily 
imagine  how  it  was  said^by  the  reader  of  Ames'  Alma- 
nack, that  "Nathaniel"  had  wittingly  predicted  that 
"  the  Ladies  need  Their  Fans,"  and  in  wisdom  had 
written  the  lines  — 

"  In  cool  Retreats  we  skulking  strive  to  shun 
The  torrid  Rays  of  June's  meridian  Sun." 

But  that  renowned  sage  was  always  careful  to  regard 
the  season  when  it  was  likely  to  be  warm,  and  he 
never  put  his  snowstorms  along  in  summer.  Yet 
what  brought  utter  confusion  upon  the  almanac-maker 
was  the  remarkable  exception  of  tempest,  snow,  or 
drought,  when  he  could  only  defend  his  reputation 
in  such  manner  as  Ames  did  in  a  certain  instance : 
"  The  Devil  does  not  know  so  much  of  future  Events  \ 
as  many  expect  an  Almanack  Maker  should  foretell." 
The  question  has  been  repeatedly  raised,  whether 
the  climate  of  New  England  has  not  moderated  within 
two  centuries.  It  may  have  done  so  ;  but  the  accounts 
of  their  storms  and  droughts,  which  are  met  with  in 
diaries  and  newspapers,  are  to  be  judged  in  connection 
with  the  greater  suffering  then  occasioned.  If  their 
crops  failed,  they  had  no  outside  world  to  draw  upon ; 
hence  we  scarcely  notice  now  what  brought  famine  to 
them.  A  great  snowstorm  then  destroyed  their  cattle, 
and  made  their  roads,  which  were  bad  at  the  best, 
impassable  sometimes  for  weeks.     On  the  whole,  there 

^  This  proclamation  provided  that  in  case  of  rain  in  any  town  before 
the  day  it  should  he  a  thanksgiving. 


316         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

is  ground  for  the  belief  that  our  summers  are  occa- 
sionally as  hot  and  dry  as  those  which  summoned 
them  to  general  humiliation,  and  we  experience  as  se- 
vere winters  and  as  great  snowstorms  as  any  of  those 
which  made  certain  years  famous  for  many  a  day. 
An  effective  comparison  is  found  in  the  snowstorm 
of  February  20-21,  1716-17,  and  the  blizzard  which 
swept  over  New  England  on  the  12th  and  13th  of 
March,  1888,  and  which  is  still  fresh  in  memory. 
There  was  little  suffering  occasioned  by  the  latter, 
and  only  some  involuntary  fasting.  It  was  treated 
as  a  holiday.  But  the  former  brought  serious  conse- 
quences, —  a  loss  of  life,  destruction  of  herds,  and 
great  scarcity  of  food.  The  year  was  thereafter  known 
as  that  of  "  the  great  snowstorm."  Various  accounts 
are  extant.  The  "  Boston  News-Letter  "  of  February 
25,  after  noting  that  January  was  very  mild  and 
February  "  a  cold  winter  month,"  says :  "  Besides  sev- 
eral Snows,  we  had  a  great  one  on  Monday  the  18th 
currant,  and  on  Wednesday  the  20th  it  begun  to 
Snow  about  noon  and  continued  Snowing  till  Friday 
the  22^,  so  that  the  Snow  lies  in  some  parts  of  the 
Streets  about  six  foot  high."  Sewall  says :  "  It  was 
terribly  surprising  to  me  to  see  the  extraordinary 
Banks  of  Snow  on  the  side  of  the  way  over  against 
us."  The  manuscript  diary  of  Jonathan  Huntington 
teUs  us  what  it  was  in  Connecticut :  ^  "  A  grat  and 
remarkabel  snow,  that  began  on  Wenesdy  the  20  day 
of  february  1717  in  the  afternoon  and  continued  snow- 
ing until  Thursday  near  night  —  which  was  thought 
to  be  three  foot  and  an  half  or  four  feet  deep  upon 
a  level,  and  upon  the  forth  day  of  March  there  was  a 

1  Conn.  Hist.  Soc. 


SPELLS   OF  WEATHER,  317 

crust  upon  it  which  continued  until  about  the  four- 
teenth day  and  then  wasted  away  gradully  until  the 
snow  was  gon."  Additional  notices  in  subsequent 
numbers  of  the  "  Boston  News-Letter  "  show  that  this 
storm  came  from  the  northeast,  was  accompanied  by 
a  wind,  and  was  general  throughout  New  England. 
In  some  parts  of  New  Hampshire  the  snow  was  five 
feet  deep  and  drifts  were  fourteen  feet  high.  None 
then  living  remembered  the  hke.  No  mail  posts  went 
or  came.  There  were  then  three  to  and  from  Boston, 
—  the  western,  southern,  and  eastern.  Communica- 
tion, except  by  water,  was  entirely  shut  off  for  several 
weeks.  A  few  ventured  abroad  on  snowshoes,  but 
there  was  no  traveling  for  horses.  Some  men  per- 
ished in  attempts  to  save  their  cattle  or  reach  them 
with  fodder.  Many  were  snowbound  for  weeks. 
The  ministers  who  were  attending  the  funeral  of  Eev. 
William  Brattle  at  Cambridge,  on  the  20  th,  were  un- 
able to  get  home,  and  their  Sunday  services  failed. 
For  this  cause  the  Boston  Thursday  lecture,  February 
28,  was  much  like  a  fast,  and  Cotton  Mather  preached 
from  Psalm  cxlvii.  16-18,  "  He  giveth  snow  like 
wool,"  etc.  At  the  suggestion  of  the  "fathers  in 
the  ministry,"  the  lecture,  March  14,  was  turned  into 
a  fast,  the  churches  concurring  in  the  "  seasonable 
solemnity."  The  service  was  held  in  the  South 
Church,  and  large  congregations  attended  both  fore- 
noon and  afternoon.^  In  the  morning  Benjamin 
Colman  preached  from  Pro  v.  xxx.  8,  "  Feed  me  with 
food  convenient  for  me,"  and  in  the  afternoon  Ben- 

1  Hill's  Hist  of  Old  South  Church,  i.  384.  The  author  suggests 
that  it  was  "  with  reference  probahly  to  their  own  special  needs  rather 
than  to  the  general  wants  of  the  community."  It  was  surely  for  the 
snowstorm. 


318         FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

jamin  Wadsworth  from  Psalm  cvii.  43,  "Whoso  is 
wise,  and  will  observe  these  things,"  etc.  Other  fasts 
were  held  in  neighboring  towns  March  21  and  26. 
Upon  the  12th  instant  a  proclamation,  drawn  up  by 
Colonel  Winthrop  and  amended  by  various  members 
of  the  council,  was  issued  for  a  public  fast  April  4. 
Its  principal  cause  is  thus  stated :  "  To  humble  them- 
selves under  the  Holy  Hand  of  God  in  the  Tokens  of 
His  Displeasure,  and  in  particular,  in  the  late  exces- 
sive Snows  and  Tempests  (Whereby  great  Losses  of 
Lives  and  Estates  have  been  sustained  by  the  way  of 
the  Sea,  and  great  numbers  of  Cattel  Destroyed  in 
Shore,  and  many  Families  reduced  into  a  Distressing 
Condition)."  Had  the  sermons  of  that  day  been 
printed,  they  would  doubtless  give  us  further  interest- 
ing particulars.  The  only  sermon  we  know  of  in  print 
relating  to  the  storm  is  one  by  Eliphalet  Adams,  of 
New  London,  Conn.,  preached  on  Sunday,  March  3, 
from  the  text,  Nahum  i.  3,  "  The  Lord  hath  his  way 
in  the  whirlwind  and  in  the  storm,  and  the  clouds  are 
the  dust  of  his  feet."  ^  In  this  the  preacher  attempts 
to  show  the  divine  displeasure  in  the  storm,  —  1. 
"  In  that  it  happened  so  very  late  in  'the  year  when  it 
was  the  less  to  be  expected  ;  "  2.  "In  that  the  snow 
descended  in  so  very  great  a  quantity,  far  beyond 
what  is  usual  and  hath  almost  been  known  in  the 
memory  of  man  ; "  3.  "  In  that  it  was  so  quickly  and 
so  terribly  repeated  ; "  4.  "  In  that  we  were  driven 
out  of  the  House  of  God  thereby  ; "  5.  "  In  that  it 
hath   brought    upon    us    so    great    distress,   loss   and 

^  A  Discourse  occasioned  by  the  late  Distressing  Storm  which  began 
Feb.  20,  1716,  17.  As  it  ivas  Delivered  March  3d  171^.  New  London  : 
.  .  .  T.  Green,  1717, 16©,  pp.  (2)  32  (1).    Prince  Library,  Bos.  Pub.  Lib. 


SPELLS   OF  WEATHER.  319* 

suffering."  Such  homiletic  duty,  we  may  conclude, 
this  storm  was  made  to  do  in  admonishing  the  people 
on  the  spring  fast  in  Connecticut  April  10.  It  is 
quite  true  that,  as  this  storm  was  so  exceptional,  the 
effect  was  extraordinary ;  but  upon  other  similar  oc- 
casions, \^  hen  there  had  been  hurricanes,  floods,  dark 
days,  and  the  like,  even  though  fasts  were  not  im- 
mediately proclaimed,  these  incidents  did  not  fail  to 
pass  in  review  in  due  time. 

We  pass  on  over  many  years  to  find  another  re- 
markable illustration  of  the  same  feature  in  their  fast 
days.  This  is  a  drought,  and  nothing  did  so  much  as 
these  spells  of  dry  weather  to  bring  the  almanac-maker 
into  contempt.  Surely,  of  all  natural  causes  the 
droughts  occasioned  the  most  fasting  and  prayer. 
They  are  numbered  by  the  dozfen  all  the  way  from 
that  of  1623  to  the  American  Ee volution. i  The  one 
now  before  us  in  1749  really  began  in  1748,  and 
was  the  most  extreme  of  the  time.  In  the  month  of 
May,  1748,  the  weather  became  hot  and  dry,  and  so 
continued  through  the  sunmier,  broken  only  by  one 
shower.  It  is  characterized  in  the  Massachusetts  fast 
day  proclamation,  June  9,  as  an  "  Awful  Rebuke  of 
Divine  Providence  in  the  very  early  and  grievous 
Drought,  which  threatens  great  Scarcity  and  Dearth 
to  this  as  well  as  the  neighboring  Provinces."  The 
harvest  was  gTcatly  shortened,  which  added  to  the 
scarcity  then  prevailing  on  account  of  the  war.  Grain 
of  all  kinds  was  scarce.  Indian  corn  rose  to  thirty- 
two  shilhngs  a  bushel,  rye  to  forty-six:,  and  wheat  to 

1  The  following  were  years  of  drought :  1644, 1645, 1662, 1663,  1666, 
1671,  1672,  1685,  1686,  1688,  1692,  1700,  1704,1705,  1708,  1709,  1710, 
1714,  1717,  1724,  1728,  1748,  1749, 1757,  1762. 


320         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING   DAYS. 

three  pounds  in  old  tenor  bills.  Thus  the  expectation 
was  heightened  the  following  season.  The  farmers 
planted  as  usual  in  1749,  and  were  at  great  expense 
for  seed.  As  to  the  sequel,  it  is  best  given  in  the 
words  of  an  old  time  chronicler :  i  — 

"  This  Summer  was  the  Severest  Drought  in  this  Country,  as 
has  ever  been  known  in  y"  Memory  of  y**  oldest  Persons  among 
us.  It  was  a  dry  Spring,  and  by  y*  latter  end  of  May  the  grass 
was  burnt  up  so  that  y*  ground  looked  white;  and  it  was  y*  6th 
Day  of  July  before  any  Rain  (to  speak  of)  came.  The  Earth 
was  dried  like  Powder  to  a  great  depth  and  many  Wells, 
Springs,  Brooks,  &  small  Rivers  were  dried  up,  that  were  never 
known  to  fail  before.  And  the  Fish  in  some  of  y*  Rivers  died. 
The  Pastures  were  so  scorched  that  there  was  nothing  green  to 
be  seen,  and  the  Cattle  waxed  poor,  &  by  their  lowing  seemed 
to  call  upon  their  Owners  for  Relief,  who  could  not  help  them. 
Although  the  dry  Grass  was  Eaten  so  close  as  that  there  was 
but  a  few  thin  spires  to  be  seen,  yet  several  Pastures  took  fire, 
and  burnt  fiercely.  .  .  .  There  was  a  great  scarcity  of  Hay, 
being  but  a  very  little  cut,  of  y"  first  Crop ;  &  salt  marsh  failed 
near  as  much  as  the  English  Meadow.  English  Hay  was  then 
sold  for  £3,  &  £3.10  old  tenor  per  Hundred.  Barley  &  Oats 
were  so  Pinched  that  many  had  not  much  more  than  their  seed 
again,  &  many  cut  down  their  S"^  Grain  before  it  was  ripe  for 
Fodder.  Flax  almost  wholly  failed,  as  also  Herbs  of  all  sorts; 
and  Indian  Corn  Rolled  up  &  wilted ;  and  there  was  a  melancholly 
prospect  of  the  greatest  Dearth  that  ever  was  known  in  this 
Land.  In  the  time  of  our  fears  &  Distress,  the  Government 
ordered  a  Day  of  Public  Fasting  &  Prayer;  and  God  was 
graciously  pleased  to  hear  &  Answer  our  Prayers,  even  in  a 
very  remarkable  manner:  for  about  y*  6th  of  July  the  course 
of  y*  weather  altered  ;  and  there  came  such  plentiful  &  seasona- 
ble Rains,  as  quite  altered  y*  face  of  y"  Earth;  and  that  Grass 
which  we  generally  concluded  was  wholly  dead,  and  could  not 
come  again  under  several  years,  was  revived,  and  there  was  a 
good  second  crop  of  Mowing  ;  it  looked  more  like  y*  Spring 
than  that  season  of  y*  Year;  and  y^  Indian  Corn  recovered,  & 
there  was  a  very  good  Harvest.     And  whereas  it  was  thought 

^  'Slake)'' &  Annals  of  Dorchester, 


SPELLS   OF  WEATHER,  321 

in  y  fall  of  the  Year  that  a  multitude  of  Cattle  must  Die  for 
want  of  Meat,  insomuch  as  they  sent  &  fetched  Hay  from  Eng- 
land; yet  God  in  his  Providence  Ordered  us  a  moderate 
Winter,  and  we  were  carried  comfortably  through  it;  and  I 
did  not  hear  of  many,  if  any  Cattle  that  died.  .  .  .  Upon  y® 
Coming  of  y"  Rains  &  Renewiug  of  y"  Earth  last  fall,  the  Gov- 
ernment appointed  a  Day  of  Publick  Thanksgiving." 

In  some  respects  this  is  the  most  complete  account 
extant.  Another  chronicler  ^  informs  us  that  "  much 
hay  was  brought  from  Pennsylvania,"  that  "  the  heat 
and  dryness  was  so  severe  that  the  ground  cracked  in 
many  places  and  where  pieces  of  broken  glass  lay  on 
the  surface  it  caught  fire,"  and  also  adds  this  impor- 
tant item  that  "  the  drought  was  attended  with  swarms 
of  catterpillars,  and  other  devouring  insects."  This 
latter  trial  is  particularly  mentioned  in  the  proclama- 
tion, issued  June  2  for  the  public  fast  Jime  15.  Of 
this  we  quote  the  important  part,  "  Forasmuch  as  it 
has  pleased  Almighty  God,  among  other  Instances  of 
his  Displeasure  against  this  People  for  their  many 
heinous  and  provoking  Sins,  to  visit  us  ^vith  a  sore 
and  distressing  Drought,  and  a  great  number  of  In- 
sects, which  threaten  the  Destruction  of  the  Fruits  of 
the  Earth  ;  and,  if  God  does  not  graciously  prevent, 
a  grievous  Dearth  and  Famine.  .  .  .  Command  the 
Clouds  to  distill  seasonable  and  plentiful  Rains  on  the 
Earth,  for  reviving  the  corn,  grass  and  other  Fruits, 
and  stopping  of  the  devouring  Insects."  The  drought 
then  began  early  in  May,  and  was  so  extreme  that 
a  fast  was  thought  necessary  by  the  2d  of  June. 
It  was  a  gloomy  prospect.  Some  churches  had 
already  fasted,  and  some  towns  did  not  wait  for  the 
day  appointed,  but  fasted  the  week  before.     Upon  the 

1  Rev.  Mr.  French's  MS.  in  Hist,  of  Haverhill,  Chase,  p.  332. 


822        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

day,  they  came  together  under  the  burden  of  most 
afflicting  circumstances. 

Here,  then,  the  almanac's  predictions  turned  out  to 
be  a  bitter  sarcasm.  Upon  the  Sunday  when  the 
ministers  read  the  foregoing  proclamation,  he  had  said 
there  would  be  "  many  showers."  If  any  pious 
farmer,  whose  faith  in  God  occasionally  sought  en- 
couragement from  Ames'  Almanack,  had  consulted  it 
to  divine  the  result  of  their  fast  day  exercises,  he 
might  have  been  overwhelmed  to  read  of  "  Thunder 
and  tremendous  tempests  "  on  that  very  day,  —  though 
"  Nathaniel  "  had  wisely  added  "  in  some  parts  of  the 
world;"  but  he  would  have  been  disappointed,  for 
June  18  wa^  "  y®  Hottest  Day  that  was  ever  known 
in  y®  Northerly  part  of  America." 

We  are  able  to  get  a  glimpse  of  two  congregations 

through  the  sermons  preached  in  Massachusetts  upon 

that   warm  sumn^er  fast  day.     The  first  is  that  in 

Marlborough,  when  Aaron  Smith  preached  both  parts 

of  the  day  from  Lev.  xxvi.  3,4,"  If  ye  walk  in  my 

statutes,  and  keep  my  commandments,  and  do  them; 

then  I  will  give  you  rain  in  due  season,  and  the  land 

shall  yield  her  increase,  and  the  trees  of  the  field  shall 

yield  their  fruit."     This  printed  sermon,  known  only 

to  the  collector  of  rarities,  is  upon  "Some  temporal 

advantages  in  keeping  covenant  with  God."     In  the 

appendix  the  author  gives  the  following  account  of  the 

drought :  — 

**  The  Heat  and  Drought  daily  encreased,  'till  not  only  the 
Ground  was  chapt  but  the  Corn  which  cloathed  the  Valleys  was 
fainting,  and  on  the  Point  of  Sinking  into  the  earth.  The 
Trees  languished  and  died:  The  Brooks  dried  up,  the  Small 
Fish  so  perished  that  the  rivers  stank,  yea,  the  Air  by  a  long 
Stagnation   became   so  putrid  and  unfit  for  Respiration  that 


SPELLS   OF  WEATHER,  323 

Mankind  were  in  Danger  of  being  suffocated.  In  this  last 
extremity,  when  every  Countenance  gathered  Paleness,  for  all 
things  appeared  dark  and  dismal,  and  in  Consternation  Men 
stood  gazing  one  on  another  wisely  inquiring,  Wherefore  Gods 
Anger  burned  toward  them  in  such  tremendous  Manner  !  I 
say  in  this  very  critical  Juncture,  the  Lord  wrought  graciously 
for  his  People  on  the  6th  of  July;  that  memorable  Day  God 
Almighty  compassionated  our  desperate  Case,  and  called  us  to 
behold  his  Power  in  relieving  us,  when  reduced  to  the  lowest 
Ebb  that  ever  New-England  saw.  'T  was  in  the  very  instant 
when  all  Hope  was  ready  to  fail,  that  the  Father  of  the  rain 
sent  plentiful  Showers,  and  so  refreshed  the  parched  Earth 
and  recovered  the  perishing  Fruits  and  destroyed  the  insects: 
And  the  Earth  yielded  more  than  a  competent  Supply  for  the 
Necessities  and  Comforts  of  Life." 

We  have  added  this  account  because  of  its  testi- 
mony to  the  temper  of  the  people  in  keeping  the  fast. 
It  was  a  case  of  desperate  need,  and  of  more  impor- 
tance than  we  can  realize. 

The  other  discourse  was  delivered  at  the  Old  South 
Church  in  Boston,  by  Thomas  Prmce.  The  text  was 
Lev.  xxvi.  18-20,  "And  if  ye  will  not  yet  for  all 
this  hearken  unto  me,  then  I  will  punish  you  seven 
times  more  for  your  sins.  And  I  will  break  the 
pride  of  your  power;  and  I  will  make  your  heaven 
as  iron,  and  your  earth  as  brass :  and  your  strength 
shall  be  spent  in  vain :  for  your  land  shall  not  yield 
her  increase,  neither  shall  the  trees  of  the  land  yield 
their  fruits."  This  sermon  has  never  been  printed,^ 
and  an  unusual  interest  attaches  to  it  because  of  the 
occasion,  the  preacher,  and  the  fact  that  liis  thanks- 
giving sermon  of  August  24,  1749,  celebrating  the 
fall  of  reviving  rains,  has  been  in  print  for  nearly 
a  century  and  a  half.      The  fast  sermon  bears  this 

^  Manuscript  in  the  Author^s  collection. 


324         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

inscription,  "  Gen  Fast,  On  occas"*  of  y^  most  xtr^ 
drought  thro  this  Province  known  in  y®  memory  of 
any  now  alive."  The  indorsements  show  that  it  was 
delivered  in  the  "  S  Ch "  Jmie  15,  the  same  day  in 
"  Roxbury  1^*  Precinct,"  and  July  2  in  the  "  North 
Ch  Boston."  It  is  written  with  contractions  and 
abbreviations  after  the  author's  well-known  custom. 
He  also  gives  some  account  of  the  drought,  adding, 
however,  no  important  items  beyond  emphasizing  the 
devastation  in  some  places  by  "  innumerable  swarms 
of  worms  and  grasshoppers."  But  this  paragraph, 
which  is  marked  in  the  manuscript  sermon  of  June 
15,  was  introduced  by  him  into  the  printed  dis- 
course of  August  24,  the  thanksgiving  day,  and  was 
evidently  under  the  eye  of  Blake  when  he  wrote  in 
May,  1750,  the  account  already  given.^  Thomas 
Prince  was  a  very  close  observer  in  all  such  matters, 
and  the  foremost  historical  student  of  his  time.  We 
cannot  therefore  think  that  he  exaggerates  the  dis- 
tress, or  is  astray  in  writing,  "  Never  were  those  af- 
fecting passages  in  y®  1st  of  Joel  known  to  be  more 
applicable  to  us  than  in  y®  present  day."  Further- 
more, he  was  the  most  devoted  to  science  of  any  New 
England  minister,  and  most  likely  to  lean  toward  a 
scientific  view  of  such  phenomena.  His  sermon  of 
August  24  was  upon  "  The  Natural  and  Moral 
Government  and  Agency  of  God  in  causing  Droughts 
and  Rains."  It  was  dedicated  to  the  Royal  Society 
of  London.  And  taking  these  two  sermons  together, 
they  furnish  the  best  statement  of  that  time  as  to 
the  philosophy  which  was   underneath  all  these  ap- 

^  The  passage  is  on  pages  37,  38,  of  the  thanksgiving  sermon,  first 
edition. 


SPELLS   OF  WEATHER.  325 

pointments  of  fast  and  thanksgiving  days.  On  the 
one  hand  it  is  evident  that  the  most  scholarly  minis-  y 

ters  were  beginning  to  modify  their  views,  and  find- 
ing more  room  for  the  operation  of  natural  causes ; 
on  the  other  it  is  shown  that  such  a  view  was  still  held 
as  encouraged  them  in  supplications  to  God.  Some 
synopsis  of  his  teaching  is  of  interest.  ^ 

The  argument  is  that  we  have  to  do  with  the  same 
God  and  the  same  revelation  as  the  Israelites  of  old. 
Though  released  from  their  ceremonial  and  judicial 
laws,  we  have  the  same  moral  laws,  and  our  chastise- 
ment is  as  much  for  our  moral  benefit  and  the  exhi- 
bition of  the  glory  of  God  as  was  theirs.  He  says : 
"The  only  question  therefore  seems  to  be  whether 
such  kinds  of  promises  of  temporal  and  spiritual 
blessings  and  threatenings  of  temporal  and  spiritual 
chastisements  now  belong  to  communities  of  Chris- 
tians as  to  the  Israelites  of  old."  This  he  answers 
in  the  affirmative.  The  law  of  nature  is  the  law  of 
God  and  Christ,  founded  on  our  relation  to  God  and 
those  about  us,  and  so  on  justice,  goodness,  reason, 
and  wisdom.  Christians  are  related  to  it  as  were  the 
ancient  Israelites.  We  need  the  same  promises  and 
threatenings.  God  has  the  government  of  angels, 
men,  brutes,  and  elements  in  his  hands,  and  is  always 
present  with  them,  and  is  now  as  capable  as  ever  of 
fulfilling  those  promises  and  threatenings  in  his  wis- 
dom and  goodness.  God  maintains  a  ''visible  moral 
government  over  his  people,"  and  where  calamities 
are  suited  to  accomplish  a  benevolent  end,  God  uses 
them  now  as  in  ancient  times.  When  men  do  not 
yield  Him  due  obedience,  they  are  exposed  to  his  pun- 
ishments, and  when  they  humble  themselves  before 


826        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

Him,  they  may  hope  to  see  sooner  or  later  the  tokens 
of  his  mercy  and  benignity.  He  brings  a  grievous 
drought  for  the  wickedness  of  the  people.  Though 
there  are  laws  operating  in  a  stated  manner,  yet  God 
does  not  "confine  himself  to  act  according  to  his 
common  Course  of  Nature,  but  most  wisely  and  justly 
reserves  the  Liberty  of  acting  otherwise  on  all  Occa- 
sions when  he  sees  most  fitting.  Such  reserved  cases 
seem  to  be  Earthquakes,  Hurricanes  and  Tempests, 
Storms  of  Wind,  Rain,  Thimder,  Lightning,  Snow 
and  Hail  .  .  .  but,  whenever  he  sees  Occasion,  giving 
additional  Degrees  of  Power  and  different  Direc- 
tions^ or  abating  their  Degrees  of  Power  in  other 
ways  than  in  his  common  Course  of  Nature,  which  is 
only  his  usual  Way  of  Operation  in  them."  "  In  this 
manner  he  may  in  the  most  proper  Seasons  send  both 
Droughts  and  Rains,  and  Sicknesses  and  Health,  to 
particular  Places  ;  he  may  point  his  Lightnings  to 
particular  Persons;  he  may  raise  a  Storm  to  dis- 
perse a  Fleets  and  give  additional  Powers  to  a  Gust 
of  Wind  to  overset  a  Vessel,  or  to  the  Waves  to 
break  her;  he  may  direct  Physicians  to  a  sufficient 
Knowledge  of  the  Cases  of  their  Patients,  and  the 
suitable  Means  of  their  Cure,  and  give  additional 
Forces  and  Directions  to  the  Medicines  in  their  in- 
ward Operations  or  otherwise.  And  so  in  Multitudes 
of  other  Cases :  Or  there  would  be  no  more  need  to 
pray  to  God  for  a  safe  Voyage,  or  a  prosperous  War, 
or  to  preservB  from  Drought,  or  Plagues,  or  Enemies, 
or  to  save  in  any  Sicknesses  or  Dangers  ;  than  to 
pray  in  an  extream  hot  Day,  that  he  would  make  the 
I   Sun  to  go  down  at  the  usual  Time." 

Such  were  the  views  of  the  New  England  minis- 


SPELLS   OF  WEATHER.  327 

ters,  and  however  erroneous  they  may  now  be  consid- 
ered, they  operated  powerfully  in  their  day.  A  fast 
like  that  of  the  15  th  of  June  was  in  this  view  appro- 
priate. They  verily  hoped  that  God  would  interfere 
for  their  relief,  and  when  the  rains  came  on  the  6  th 
of  July  they  appointed  a  thanksgiving,  not  merely 
because  of  the  temporal  blessing,  but  in  confidence 
that  their  faith  in  God  had  won  a  victory.  So  they 
rejoiced  together,  and  the  deliverance  from  the  drought 
of  1749  lived  in  their  recollections  for  many  a  day. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE   AMERICAN   REVOLUTION. 

1765-1783. 

The  history  of  the  American  Revolution  covers  a 
period  from  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act  in  1765  to 
the  proclamation  of  peace  in  1783.  This  includes 
many  of  the  most  important  fast  and  thanksgiving 
days  ever  observed  in  the  New  England  colonies,  espe- 
cially those  ordered  by  the  Continental  Congress,  the 
story  of  which  in  detail  would  require  the  scope  of  a 
volume. 

The  proclamations  of  the  colonies  from  early  times 
had  contained,  in  various  forms,  this  phrase  "  civil  and 
religious  liberties,"  which  like  a  flag  had  floated  aloft, 
now  triumphant  and  now  in  danger,  —  the  symbol  of 
what  they  held  most  dear.  It  is  easy  to  detect  the 
approaching  storm  by  the  waving  of  this  emblem  in 
their  proclamations.  Hitherto  these  had  always  dis- 
played loyalty,  of  which  they  were  an  ofiicial  utter- 
ance. The  royal  family  had  been  mentioned  with 
regard.  A  cut  of  the  royal  arms  was  at  the  top,  and 
the  words  "  God  save  the  King "  at  the  bottom. 
Even  when  treason  was  abroad,  it  did  not  appear  in 
these  documents.  But  the  time  was  at  hand  when 
the  popular  feeling  must  be  expressed,  or  the  pro- 
clamation come  into  contempt.  In  1765  the  plea, 
in  the  spring  fast  proclamation  of  Connecticut  was 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  329 

"  Give  us  Favour  at  the  Court  of  Great-Britain, 
and  bless  our  civil  Administrations."  It  was  surely 
a  mild  statement  of  the  feeling  on  the  Stamp  Act. 
But  the  governor  of  Massachusetts,  Francis  Bernard, 
did  not  encourage  the  people  to  ask  even  that,  though 
they  did  ask  considerably  more.  From  that  time 
Connecticut  proclamations  maintained  a  sympathy 
with  the  people,  while  those  of  Massachusetts,  be- 
cause of  the  sentiments  of  the  governors,  were  un- 
popular, until  they  finally  threw  the  proclamation 
overboard  as  they  did  the  tea.  The  Stamp  Act  was 
passed,  and  the  disturbances  of  the  summer  followed. 
At  the  thanksgiving  in  Massachusetts,  December  5, 
the  people  were  asked  to  express  their  gratitude  for 
an  "  addition  to  the  Royal  Issue,  another  Pledge  for 
the  Continuance  of  the  Happiness  and  Liberty,  which 
have  been  secured  to  us  by  his  Majesty's  illustri- 
ous House."  The  Massachusetts  ministers  were  not 
moved  with  unction  in  such  a  matter.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  Rhode  Island  prayers  were  put  up  for  a 
blessing  on  their  endeavors  for  "  preserving  their  in- 
valuable privileges."  A  similar  clause  is  prominent 
in  the  Connecticut  proclamation.  This  latter  colony, 
through  its  General  Assembly  meeting  in  October, 
on  account  of  "  the  dark  aspects  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence with  regard  to  their  [our]  most  dear  and 
valuable  rights  and  privileges,"  had  requested  the 
governor  to  appoint  a  public  fast.  This  was  done, 
and  December  18  was  the  day  named.  So  far  as  we 
are  aware,  this  was  the  only  special  public  fast  in 
New  England  on  this  account.  A  writer  has  said  of 
New  Hampshire,  that  they  were  not  given  to  days  of 
fasting  for  the  Stamp  Act,  but  greeted  the  event  with 


330         FAST  AND  THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

tolling  bells  and  mock  funeral  processions.^  The 
fact  is  that  the  authorities  there,  as  in  Massachusetts, 
would  not  order  a  fast  on  that  account,  though  the 
people  would  gladly  have  kept  one.  They  could  only 
utilize  the  regular  days.  On  the  Connecticut  fast 
day,  a  notable  sermon  was  preached  by  Stephen  John- 
son, of  Lyme,  which  is  in  print.^  This  divine  had 
already  written  some  patriotic  articles  for  the  "  New 
London  Gazette,"  and  liis  sermon  was  in  the  same 
tenor.  He  was  the  forerunner  of  a  fearless  race  of 
prophets,  afterwards  numerous  and  active  throughout 
the  State.  A  single  quotation  will  show  what  this 
sermon  was  calculated  to  accomplish  in  resistance  to 
the  Stamp  Act,  already  general  everywhere  :  — 

"  The  calamities  which  impend  over  us,  and  which  we  are  now 
to  deplore  and  deprecate  are  the  heaviest  the  churches  and  in- 
habitants of  this  land  have  ever  felt,  from  any  earthly  power  ; 
and  threaten  (in  our  apprehension)  no  less  than  slavery  and 
ruin  to  this  great  people,  in  this  widely  extended  continent. 
Who  does  not  know  ?  Who  has  not  heard,  that  the  fatal  de- 
cree is  already  past,  which  seems  to  determine  the  unhappy 
fate  of  all  America,  and  the  West  India  islands  ?  Unhappy 
decree  !  full  of  woe!  which  imposes  a  burden  (as  is  conceived) 
far  beyond  our  circumstances  to  bear,  and  strips  us  of  very 
important  privileges;  and  (in  our  view)  partly  by  its  natural 
operation,  and  partly  as  a  precedent,  it  highly  endangers  our 
slavery  and  wretchedness,  unless  God  in  infinite  mercy  inter- 
poses and  changes  the  British  councils,  or  opens  some  other 
way  of  our  deliverance.  In  a  situation  so  extremely  alarming  ! 
well  do  our  civil  rulers  call  us  to  fasting  and  mourning,  to  deep 
humiliation,  and  earnest  supplication  to  the  God  of  Israel,  the 
God  of  our  fathers  and  of  all  our  salvation." 

1  Mem.  of  Dr.  Buckminster,  p.  35. 

2  See  Bibliography.  This  has  been  given  as  a  "  sermon  at  New- 
port, R.  I."  in  bibliographical  lists.  It  was  printed  at  Newport,  but 
was  delivered  on  December  18,  the  Connecticut  fast  day,  and  prob- 
ably at  Lyme. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  331 

It  required  some  courage  to  publish  such  a  sermon, 
and  this  was  issued  anonymously.  Such,  however,  were 
preached  in  many  places.  Philemon  Robbins,  of  Bran- 
ford,  discoursed  from  Isa.  lix.  9-16,  in  which  he  openly 
encouraged  resistance :  "  Such  as  plead  the  kings  pre- 
rogative in  acts  unconstitutional  and  wrong  are  going 
apace  to  the  doctrine  of  passive  obedience  and  non- 
resistance^  a  doctrine  held  only  by  high  flying  church- 
men." 1  There  was  but  one  inference  from  these  sen- 
timents, and  the  hearers  understood  it. 

The  Stamp  Act  was  repealed.  Rumors  of  this  prob- 
able action  reached  Boston  by  April  3,  1766,  and 
though  they  could  not  be  put  into  the  spring  fast  pro- 
clamations, they  undoubtedly  affected  its  observance. 
A  copy  of  the  act  of  Parliament  was  received  on  the 
16th  of  May.  Then  followed  such  rejoicings  as  had 
never  been  known  before  in  the  memory  of  the  living. 
There  was  no  time  to  issue  proclamations,  nor  was 
there  need  of  them.  People  flocked  to  the  meeting- 
houses, where  church  days  were  kept.  Samuel  Still- 
man,  minister  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Boston, 
preached  the  next  day  upon  the  "  Good  news  from  a 
far  country."  On  the  following  Tuesday  Nathaniel 
Appleton,  of  Cambridge,  delivered  a  similar  discourse. 
Friday,  the  23  d,  was  observed  in  the  West  Church, 
Boston,  and  then  Jonathan  Mayhew  preached  his 
famous  sermon  on  "  The  Snare  broken,"  dedicated  to 
William  Pitt,  the  heroic  friend  of  the  colonies.  In  it 
he  notes  the  reason  for  the  occasion,  as  for  many  others 
throughout  Massachusetts,  —  "  the  improbability  of 
their  [our]  being  called  together  for  this  end  by  procla- 
mation, as  upon  some  less  memorable  occasions."     It 

^  MS.  Sermon,  Conn.  Hist.  Soc. 


332        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

was  not  until  tlie  House  of  Representatives  resolved 
that  the  governor  be  desired  to  make  such  an  appoint- 
ment that  he  issued  a  proclamation  therefor,  naming 
July  24,  four  days  after  the  publication  of  which  Jon- 
athan Mayhew  died.  This  accounts  for  the  church 
thanksgivings  and  the  sermons  in  print  and  manu- 
script delivered  upon  them.  In  New  Hampshire  the 
governor  had  set  a  public  fast  on  the  21st  of  May,  but 
on  that  very  day  toward  evening  they  had  the  good 
news,  and  the  next  day  was  one  of  public  rejoicing. 
Word  came  to  Hartford  on  the  19th,  and  the  General 
Assembly  forthwith  requested  the  governor  to  order  a 
public  thanksgiving  as  soon  as  convenient,  which  was 
done,  and  the  26th  of  June  was  kept.^  The  same  day 
was  appointed  in  Rhode  Island,  though  some  commu- 
nities could  not  wait  for  it.  When  the  Massachusetts 
thanksgiving,  July  24,  came  round,  the  ministers  — 
who  had  been  indignant  that  his  Excellency  had  not 
moved  earlier  in  the  matter  —  had  their  sermons 
ready,  and  if  all  were  such  as  those  of  Charles  Chauncy, 
of  Boston,  Joseph  Emerson,  of  Pepperell,  and  William 
Patten,  of  Halifax,  which  are  in  print,  there  could  have 
been  no  doubt  as  to  what  would  have  transpired  had 
England  attempted  to  enforce  the  Stamp  Act.  John 
Adams  afterwards  referred  to  Dr.  Mayhew' s  and  Dr. 
Chauncy's  sermons  in  proof  of  this  very  point,  and  the 
ministers  generally  agreed  with  them.  The  conclusion 
of  this  episode  was  aptly  expressed  in  the  autumn 
thanksgiving  proclamation  of  Connecticut :  "  God  hath 
in  a  singular  manner  appeared  for  us  in  the  course  of 

1  Conn.  Col.  Rec,  xii.  467.  The  editor's  note  says,  '*  Friday,  May 
23d,  was  the  day  appointed."  That  was  the  day  of  the  civil  celebra- 
tion, and  not  the  day  "  to  be  religiously  observed." 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  333 

his  merciful  Providence,  in  the  late  gloomy  Day  of  « 
Prayer,  Anxiety   and    Distress,    averting   impending 
Evils,  and  saved  to  us  our  important  civil  Rights  and 
Liberties,  —  a  Favour  of  Heaven  never  to  be  forgot- 
ten !  " 

This  relief  was  short-lived.  Other  obnoxious  mea- 
sures were  imposed,  and,  though  the  fire  burned  low, 
it  burned.  From  this  time  on  to  the  outbreak  of  the 
Revolution,  the  proclamations  in  Massachusetts  took 
on  a  stereotyped  form.  The  thanksgiving  proclamation 
of  1768  is  nearly  word  for  word  that  of  1767.  If 
there  was  anything  which  reflected  the  times,  it  was 
only  a  hint  which  must  have  incensed  the  people.  In 
1773  they  were  asked  to  humble  themselves  for  "  mer- 
cies which  they  [we]  have  justly  been  deprived  of  by 
demerit."  Of  course  these  were  sometimes  read  in 
the  churches,  but  they  were  also  often  modified.  One 
occasion  is  conspicuous.  The  thanksgiving  proclama- 
tion of  1771,  issued  by  Governor  Hutchinson,  had  the 
phrase  "continuance  of  our  civil  and  religious  privi- 
leges." Samuel  Adams  charged  that  it  was  "con- 
trived to  try  the  feelings  of  the  people  "  in  the  hope 
that  they  might  thus  acknowledge  the  same.  At  all 
events  it  did  try  their  feelings,  for  many  ministers 
would  not  read  it,  and  those  who  did  modified  it  by 
leaving  out  the  clause,  or  introducing,  like  Rev. 
Joseph  Sumner,  of  Shrewsbury,  the  words  "  some  of." 
In  Boston  only  two  ministers  read  it.  Dr.  Pemberton, 
the  governor's  pastor,  and  Mr.  Bacon,  the  young  col- 
league at  the  Old  South  Church,  the  latter  through 
no  political  design.  Both  were  severely  scored  for 
their  act  by  the  ''  Boston  Gazette."  i     The  Associated 

^  See  a  further  account  in  Hill's  Hist,  of  the  Old  South  Churchy  ii. 
146-149. 


334        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

^  Pastors  of  Boston  in  1774  voted  not  to  read  any 
proclamations  wliich  the  governor  and  council  might 
issue,  —  action  which  was  proposed  by  Dr.  Chauncy. 
In  Connecticut  the  proclamations  were  more  out- 
spoken. They  recognized  only  the  "lengthening  out 
of  their  public  tranquillity,"  spoke  of  "  public  affairs 
as  in  great  perplexity  and  doubt,"  and  mourned  over 
the  "  disappointment  of  their  hopes  of  relief  from  the 
burden  laid  upon  them."  So  early  as  1771  they  fore- 
east  the  "  prospect  of  war."  But  no  special  fast  days 
were  appointed  in  any  of  the  colonies  until  1774; 
then  the  storm  broke,  and  thereafter  until  1783  all 
such  days  had  more  or  less  reference  to  the  war. 
~— — Upon  Jime  1,  1774,  the  Boston  Port  Bill  was  to  go 
into  effect.  It  was  a  memorable  day  throughout  New 
England,  characterized  by  a  solemn  and  ominous  still- 
ness except  for  the  tolling  of  the  church  bells.  It  has 
been  said  that  it  was  observed  by  fasting  and  prayer.^ 
Possibly  it  was  among  some  Massachusetts  churches, 
but  there  was  no  public  or  general  fast,  for  the  reason 
that  the  governor  would  not  appoint  one.  The  resolve 
of  the  patriotic  House  of  Burgesses  in  Virginia  to 
hold  a  fast  on  that  day  was  the  cause  of  their  dissolu- 
tion ;  though  they  kept  the  day  just  the  same,  and 
with  uncommon  solemnity .2  Generally  it  was  a  time 
for  the  expression  of  indignation.  Even  in  the  coun- 
try towns,  such  as  Lebanon,  Conn.,  the  people  gath- 
ered, at  the  tolling  of  the  bell,  before  the  town  house, 
which  had  been  draped  in  black,  to  make  a  public 
declaration  of  their  rights  and  privileges.  Rhode 
Island  was  the  first,  in  the  order  of  time,  to  keep  a 

^  An  Impartial  History  of  the  War  in  America,  i.  299. 
2  ^,„^  Arch,,  iv.  s.  1.  350;  Conn.  Courant,  June  28,  1774. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  335 

public  fast,  which  was  June  30.  New  Hampshire  and 
Massachusetts  came  next,  observing  July  14.  But 
how  did  that  day  in  Massachusetts  come  about?  It 
was  not  ordered  by  the  governor.  On  the  27th  of 
May  the  two  Houses  of  the  General  Assembly  had 
requested  the  new  governor,  Thomas  Gage,  to  set  such 
a  day ;  but  he  had  refused,  saying  "  the  request  was 
only  to  give  an  opportunity  for  sedition  to  flow  from 
the  pulpit."  Thereupon  they  resolved  that  if  he  did 
not  make  the  appointment  before  the  end  of  the  ses- 
sion, they  would  recommend  their  respective  parish 
ministers  to  do  so.  He  did  not  relent,  and  the  asso- 
ciated ministers  of  Boston  agreed  to  propose  to  their 
several  congregations  the  keeping  of  July  14.  This 
action  was  spread  abroad.  The  Berkshire  County 
Congress,  which  met  at  Stockbridge  July  6,  recom- 
mended it.  Everywhere  it  was  acted  upon,  a  few  con- 
gregations excepted,  and  this  even  in  the  far  distant 
settlements  of  Maine.  The  governor  of  New  Hamp- 
shire adopted  it  and  issued  a  proclamation  accord- 
ingly, even  appending  the  notice  to  the  letter,  calling 
a  convention  to  choose  delegates  to  the  General  Con- 
gress at  Philadelphia,  whose  expenses  were  defrayed 
by  the  collections  of  that  day.  If  General  Gage  had 
read  the  sermons  which  the  ministers  were  preparing 
for  that  occasion  he  would  sui^ely  have  been  confirmed 
in  his  suspicions.  Such  titles  as  these  speak  for 
themselves  :  "  The  duty  of  a  people  under  the  oppres- 
sion of  Man,"  "Despotism  illustrated  and  improved 
from  the  character  of  Rehoboam,"  "  The  misery  and 
duty  of  an  oppressed  and  enslaved  people."  A  niun- 
ber  of  such  are  in  print.  The  day  in  Connecticut  was 
August  31,  appointed  at  the  request  of  the  General 


336         FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

Assembly.  One  of  the  most  famous  of  Revolutionary 
sermons  was  at  that  time  preached  by  Samuel  Sher- 
wood, of  Norfield,  and  the  same  year  printed,  to  which 
was  appended  a  statement  of  grievances  by  Ebenezer 
Baldwin,  of  Danbury,  which  was  doubtless  in  part  his 
own  discourse;  and  no  utterance  of  the  time  more 
fully  sets  forth  the  apprehensions  of  the  Connecticut 
ministers. 

The  autumn  thanksgivings  were  ordered  as  usual 
in  Connecticut  and  New  Hampshire.  Little  was  to  be 
expected  from  the  governor  of  Massachusetts,  and  so 
the  Provincial  Congress,  meeting  at  Cambridge,  Octo- 
ber 22,  issued  a  proclamation  for  such  a  day  Decem- 
ber 16,  which  was  signed  ''  by  order  of  the  Provincial 
Congress,  John  Hancock,  President."  This  was  the 
first  proclamation  of  the  kind  which  appeared,  as  of 
course  it  would,  without  the  royal  arms  and  the 
legend  "  God  save  the  King,"  which  were  continued 
on  those  of  Connecticut  thi'ough  1775  and  part  of 
1776.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  day  was  popular,^ 
and  it  was  one  fact  which  gave  the  governor  reason  to 
write,  "  Their  edicts  are  implicitly  obeyed."  Another 
lot  of  patriotic  sermons  was  put  out.  Those  delivered 
at  Bradford,  Eastham,  Hatfield,  Marblehead,  Roxbury, 
and  one  at  Boston,  were  printed  and  circulated  for 
patriotic  ends.  That  of  William  Gordon,  of  Roxbury, 
the  afternoon  portion  of  which  was  afterwards  deliv- 
ered at  the  Boston  Lecture,  is  the  most  famous.  It 
was  a  bold  utterance,  and  did  much  to  increase  the 
spirit  of  resistance.     It  expressed  the  following  senti- 

^  Several  tories  in  Boston  opened  their  shops,  and  quite  a  disturb- 
ance was  made  through  the  action  of  some  English  soldiers  who  visited 
them,  and  charged  the  owners  with  insulting  their  own  countrymen. 
It  was  all  laid  to  religious  persecution.  —  Conn.  Gazette,  Dec.  23,  1774 ; 
Hist.  Mag.,  2d  ser.  iv.  219. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  337 

ment :  "  The  way  to  escape  an  attack  is  to  be  in  read- 
iness to  receive  it.  Wliile  administration  consists  of 
those  that  have  avowed  their  dislike  to  the  principles 
of  this  continent,  and  the  known  friends  of  America 
are  excluded,  there  should  be  no  dependence  upon 
the  fair  speeches  or  actual  promises  of  any,  but  the 
colonies  should  pursue  the  means  of  safety  as  vig- 
orously as  ever,  that  they  may  not  be  surprised." 
This  sermon  and  the  preacher  were  execrated  by  the 
loyalists.  He  was  called  a  "  reverend  politician,"  a 
"  Christian  sower  of  sedition,"  a  "  wayfaring  priest," 
the  "  church-militant  general,"  and  the  like,  epithets 
which  also  applied  to  the  Massachusetts  ministers  gen- 
erally, as  well  as  to  him.  '^  Remarks  "  and  ''  Observa- 
tions "  on  this  sermon  were  put  in  print,  but  they  were 
scarcely  audible  amid  the  din  which  it  raised. 

As  might  be  expected,  fast  days  were  abundant  in 
1775.  The  1st  of  February  was  a  special  fast  in  Con- 
necticut. On  the  16th  of  that  month  the  Provincial 
Congress  of  Massachusetts,  convened  at  Cambridge, 
ordered  the  spring  fast  for  March  16,  and  issued  its 
second  proclamation.  Worshipers  in  Boston  were 
much  incensed  on  that  day  by  the  action  of  the  king's 
troops  in  pitching  two  marquee  tents  before  a  church, 
and  keeping  their  drums  beating  and  fifes  playing 
throughout  the  entire  service. 

The  world  knows  what  happened  at  Lexington  and 
Concord  upon  the  19th  of  April,  a  memorable  day  in 
American  history,  which  has  been  commemorated  of 
late  with  new  fervor.  Perhaps  it  may  be  well  to  re- 
cord the  fact  that  Connecticut  also  was  earnestly  en- 
gaged on  that  very  day.  Even  as  those  stirring  events 
were  being  enacted  in  Massachusetts,  the  people  were 
gathering  to  their  sanctuaries  in  every  town  of  Con- 


338         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

necticut,  to  supplicate  Almighty  God  in  fasting  and 
prayer  for  a  blessing  upon  their  endeavors  to  preserve 
their  liberties.  The  coincidence  could  not  have  been 
anticipated  when  the  patriotic  governor  issued  his  pro- 
clamation, else  he  would  have  said  more  than  he  did. 
But  he  spoke  as  a  prophet  of  it  as  "  a  dark  and  dif- 
ficult day."  It  was  thus  given  to  some  to  fight  and 
to  others  to  pray.  The  ministers  were  firing  the  peo- 
ple's hearts  with  courage,  and  unwittingly  preparing 
the  men  of  war  to  march  before  many  hours  at  the 
Lexington  alarm.  If  Levi  Hart,  of  Preston,  whose 
manuscript  sermon  has  survived,  had  known  that  mes- 
sengers would  soon  be  on  the  way  to  *'  alarm  the  coun- 
try quite  to  Connecticut,"  he  would  surely  have  had 
additional  illustration  for  his  discourse  on  the  words, 
"  The  posts  went  out,  being  hastened  by  the  king's  com- 
mandment," Esth.  iii.  15.^ 

A  series  of  fasts  followed  the  taking  up  of  arms. 
The  Provincial  Congress  of  Massachusetts  had  already 
moved,  April  15,  for  the  appointment  of  May  11, 
and  Rhode  Island  kept  the  same  day  by  order  of  the 
General  Assembly,  though  the  governor,  Joseph  Wan- 
ton, refused  to  issue  the  proclamation.  By  the  time 
of  its  celebration  it  was  endowed  with  a  new  serious- 
ness. On  June  3  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New 
Hampshire  set  the  22d.2 

^  MS.  Sermon,  Conn.  Hist.  Soc. 

2  N.  H.  Col.  Bee,  vii.  503.  A  copy  of  this  broadside  in  the  Mass. 
Hist.  Soc.  has  the  manuscript  note :  It  was  drawn  up  by  Rev.  Samuel 
Webster,  of  Temple.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Congress ;  and  his 
name  should  fill  in  the  blank  in  the  Records.  The  proclamation  of 
November  21, 1776,  was  by  Mr.  John  Smith,  of  Durham ;  that  of  April 
24,  1777,  by  Rev.  Daniel  Rogers  and  Rev.  Isaac  Mansfield,  both  of 
Exeter,  chaplains ;  that  of  August  7,  1777,  by  three  deacons  of  the 
house.  Dearborn,  Daken,  and  Knowles ;  and  Ezra  Stiles  wrote  that  of 
April  16,  1778. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  339 

But  the  spirit  which  had  united  the  colonies  for 
resistance  in  the  Continental  Congress  was  now  to 
inaugurate  a  system  of  national  appointments,  to  bind 
them  together  in  their  prayers  as  in  arms.  This  body, 
upon  the  12th  of  June,  issued  a  proclamation  for  a 
fast  day  in  all  the  United  Colonies  July  20i  Of  a 
considerable  nimiber  of  national  fast  days,  this  is  his- 
torically the  first,  and  we  can  now  see  how  naturally 
it  came  about.  All  the  colonies  north  and  south  ob- 
served it,  and  thus  the  custom  was  furthered  by  their 
unanimous  approval  of  the  occasion.  The  proclama- 
tion is  as  follows :  — 

"  As  the  great  Govemour  of  the  world,  by  his  supreme  and 
universal  providence,  not  only  conducts  the  course  of  nature 
with  unerring  wisdom  and  rectitude,  but  frequently  influences 
the  minds  of  men  to  serve  the  wise  and  gracious  purposes  of 
his  providential  government;  and  it  being,  at  all  times,  our 
indispensable  duty  devoutly  to  acknowledge  his  superintending 
providence,  especially  in  times  of  impending  danger  and  pub- 
lick  calamity,  to  reverence  and  adore  his  immutable  Justice  as 
well  as  to  implore  his  merciful  interposition  for  our  deliverance: 

"This  Congress,  therefore,  considering  the  present  critical, 
alarming,  and  calamitous  state  of  these  Colonies,  do  earnestly 
recommend  that,  Thursday^  the  twentieth  day  of  July  next,  be 
observed  by  the  inhabitants  of  all  the  English  Colonies  on  this 
Continent,  as  a  day  of  publick  humiliation,  fasting  and  prayer; 
that  we  may,  with  united  hearts  and  voices,  unfeignedly  confess 
and  deplore  our  many  sins,  and  offer  up  our  joint  supplications 
to  the  all  wise,  omnipotent,  and  merciful  Disposer  of  all  events; 
humbly  beseeching  him  to  forgive  our  iniquities,  to  remove 
our  present  calamities,  to  avert  those  desolating  judgments 
with  which  we  are  threatened,  and  to  bless  our  rightful  Sover- 
eign, King  George  the  Third,  and  inspire  him  with  wisdom  to 
discern  and  pursue  the  true  interest  of  all  his  subjects,  that 
a  speedy  end  may  be  put  to  the  civil  discord  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  American  Colonies,  without  further  effusion  of 
blood  ;  and  that  the  British  Nation  may  be  influenced  to  re- 
gard the  things  that  belong  to  her  peace,  before  they  are  hid 


340         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING    DAYS. 

from  her  eyes  ;  that  these  Colonies  may  be  ever  under  the 
care  and  protection  of  a  kind  Providence,  and  be  prospered  in 
all  their  interests;  that  the  divine  blessing  may  descend  and 
rest  upon  all  our  civil  rulers,  and  upon  the  Representatives  of 
the  people  in  the  several  Assemblies  and  Conventions,  that  they 
may  be  directed  to  wise  and  effectual  measures  for  preserving 
the  union,  and  securing  the  just  rights  and  privileges  of  the 
Colonies;  that  virtue  and  true  religion  may  revive  and  flourish 
throughout  our  land;  and  that  America  may  soon  behold  a 
gracious  interposition  of  Heaven,  for  the  redress  of  her  many 
grievances,  the  restoration  of  her  invaded  rights,  a  reconcilia- 
tion with  the  Parent  state  on  terms  constitutional  and  honour- 
able to  both;  and  that  her  civil  and  religious  privileges  may  be 
secured  to  the  latest  posterity. 

"And  it  is  recommended  to  Christians  of  all  denominations, 
to  assemble  for  publick  worship,  and  to  abstain  from  servile 
labour  and  recreation  on  said  day." 

This  proclamation  was  signed,  "  By  order  of  Con- 
gress, John  Hancock,  President ; "  and  it  was  printed 
in  newspapers  and  in  handbills,  which  were  sent  to  the 
authorities  in  the  several  colonies,  some  of  whom  voted 
it  or  issued  the  same  in  a  broadside.  Before  the  day 
arrived,  as  all  are  aware,  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill 
had  been  fought,  and  the  hope  of  a  peaceful  outcome 
of  the  troubles  was  banished.  Upon  that  occasion  the 
patriot  preachers  everywhere  had  an  opportunity  to 
speak  without  fear  and  restraint,  and  the  titles  of  a 
number  of  sermons  are  given  in  the  Bibliography, 
which  bear  witness  to  their  unstinted  use  of  it. 

The  thanksgivings  in  the  autumn  were  not  omitted 
even  in  this  dark  and  distressing  time,  but  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  left  the  appointments  to  the  several 
colonies.  That  of  Massachusetts  was  signed  by  the 
members  of  the  council,  as  were  several  thereafter, 
and  ended  with  the  words,  "  God  save  the  people." 
The  New  Hampshire  proclamation  was  issued  by  the 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  341 

Provincial  Congress,  and  signed  by  Matthew  Thorn- 
ton, President.  It  was  in  connection  with  this  day 
that  Rev.  Eleazar  Wheelock,  the  president  of  Dart- 
mouth College,  drew  upon  himself  such  violent  criti- 
cism. Being  remote  from  the  seat  of  government,  he 
had  kept  November  16,  the  Connecticut  day,  the  pro- 
clamation for  which  he  had  seen,  supposing  it  to  have 
been  appointed,  like  the  July  fast,  by  the  Continental 
Congress.  So  when  the  New  Hampshire  government 
set  the  30th,  the  president  was  reluctant  to  keep  it, 
thinking  he  had  already  fulfilled  its  intent.  But  his 
action  was  interpreted  by  some  as  disloyal,  and  much 
ado  was  made  of  it,  though  he  was  indorsed  by  the 
Councils  of  Safety  of  Hanover  and  Lebanon.  How- 
ever, he  afterwards  consented  to  keep  the  proper  and 
loyal  day,  and  his  sermon  was  printed  with  his  expla- 
nation in  the  preface. 

The  days  in  1776  were  not  particularly  connected 
with  the  events  of  the  war,  though  the  proclamations 
are  especially  patriotic.  Spring  fasts  were  set  as 
usual  in  New  England,  and  the  Continental  Congress, 
on  March  16,  set  a  general  fast  for  the  17  th  of  May. 
Like  that  of  the  preceding  year  it  had  a  national 
importance.  Besides  these  two,  Connecticut  had  two 
special  fasts,  January  17  and  September  19,  which 
were  none  too  many  for  the  time.  The  latter  was  the 
first  after  the  knowledge  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence had  gone  abroad,  and  probably  no  better 
iUusti'ation  can  be  found  of  the  change  which  came 
over  the  proclamations  everywhere  than  is  shown  by 
the  difference  between  these  two,  the  former  with  the 
royal  arms  and  the  loyal  motto,  the  latter  in  the  most 
intense  patriotism.    Both  are  in  print  in  the  "  Life  of 


342         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

Jonathan  Trumbull."  It  should  be  said  that  "  Brother 
Jonathan's  "  proclamations  were  the  most  remarkable 
of  the  period.  They  were  all  written  by  his  own  hand, 
and  contain  the  most  stirring  utterances.  As  they 
were  read  from  time  to  time  from  the  Connecticut  pul- 
pits they  thrilled  the  people  and  ministers  alike,  and 
deepened  the  fervent  patriotism  everywhere.  In  Mas- 
sachusetts there  was  a  special  fast  August  1.  The 
proclamation,  though  of  unusual  length,  was  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  of  the  war,  being  put  forth  at  a  criti- 
cal time,  and  upon  a  day  which  will  always  stand  first 
in  American  history,  —  the  Fourth  of  July,  1776.  A 
single  paragraph  conveys  its  spirit:  ''This  Court  ap- 
prehending the  present  Season  to  be  big  with  the  most 
important  Events,  not  only  to  this,  but  to  aU  The 
United  American  Colonies^  and  sensible  that  these 
Events  are  at  the  Disposal  of  the  supreme  Governor 
of  the  Universe,"  etc.  The  order  was  issued  from  the 
council  chamber  at  Watertown,  and  the  names  of  the 
council  are  appended  as  follows  :  James  Bowdoin,  Jer. 
Powell,  Caleb  Cushing,  J.  Winthrop,  Rich.  Derby 
Junr,  Eldad  Taylor,  John  Wetcomb,  Samuel  Holten, 
Jabez  Fisher,  Moses  Gill,  John  Taylor,  Benj.  White, 
William  Phillips,  Benj.  Austin,  Henry  Gardner,  Dan- 
iel Davis,  D.  Sewall,  D.  Hopkins,  Francis  Dana,  — 
*'By  their  Honor's  Command,  John  Avery,  Junr., 
Dep.  Secy."  "  God  Save  America  !  "  On  this  occa- 
sion the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  read  in 
many  churches  of  Massachusetts. 

In  the  autumn  the  States  were  again  left  to  name 
their  thanksgivings,  which  they  did.  But,  after  the 
operations  of  the  army  for  the  year,  it  was  thought 
best  by  the  Congi^ess  that  the  States  be  summoned 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  343 

to  prayer  at  some  time  during  the  winter.  A  reso- 
lution to  that  effect  was  passed  December  11,  and 
sent  out,  but  it  was  left  to  each  to  set  its  own  date. 
In  accordance  with  the  recommendation  of  the  Con- 
vention of  New  England  States,  which  met  in  Provi- 
dence soon  afterward,  January  29,  1777,  was  the  day 
observed.  This  did  not  set  aside  the  spring  fasts,  and 
several  days  were  set  during  the  summer  following,  at 
which  time  Vermont  joined  the  column  of  fast-keeping 
States. 

In  the  autumn  they  had  their  first  occasion  for 
general  rejoicings.  As  yet  the  Congress  had  not 
appointed  any  thanksgivings,  only  fasts.  It  was  not 
expected,  therefore,  that  they  woidd  now  do  so.  Hence 
the  States,  in  the  light  of  the  successes  of  the  north- 
ern army,  set  their  own  thanksgivings  as  usual.  Mas- 
sachusetts and  Connecticut  kept  November  20,  and 
never  since  the  war  began  was  there  such  enthusiasm. 
It  was  an  outburst  of  praise  to  God,  after  a  long  trial 
of  their  faith.  With  delight  the  Massachusetts  peo- 
ple read  the  words  —  "  He  hath  so  far  supported  us  in 
our  Exertions  against  the  arbitrary  Claims  and  mili- 
tary Violence  of  Britain ;  and  especially  in  a  late  In- 
stance of  Divine  Interposition  in  which  the  Arm  of 
the  Lord  of  Hosts  and  God  of  Armies  very  conspicu- 
ously appears,  hath  given  us  a  compleat  Victory  over 
a  whole  Army  of  our  Enemies,  hereby  teaching  us  to 
rely  upon  Him  whose  is  the  Power  and  the  Glory  and 
the  Victory."  "  Brother  Jonathan's  "  proclamation 
was  in  a  similar  strain,  and  was  ornamented  with  a 
new  and  peculiar  cut  at  the  top,  probably  such  as 
suited  the  taste  of  the  woman,  Hannah  Watson,  of 
Hartford,  who  printed  it,  in  which  feature  it  has  a 


344        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

unique  place.  Before  the  day  arrived  Burgoyne  had 
surrendered,  and  the  design  of  the  British  of  occupy- 
ing the  Hudson  River  and  thus  shutting  off  New  Eng- 
land from  the  south  had  utterly  failed.  This  was  a 
victory  which  called  for  a  national  proclamation,  and 
so  for  the  first  time  it  happened  that  a  thanksgiving 
was  kept  in  the  United  States.  The  day  was  Decem- 
ber 18,  and  the  proclamation,  which  is  given  in  another 
connection,  was  probably  written  by  Samuel  Adams,  of 
Massachusetts.  No  thanksgiving  day  during  the  war 
was  so  prominent  as  this.  It  had  a  decided  and  signal 
victory  to  commemorate  in  the  services.  The  times 
before  it  had  been  dark.  Many  had  become  discour- 
aged. But  the  effect  of  the  victory,  which  this  day 
did  so  much  to  glorify  everywhere,  was  marvelous. 
In  States  to  which  the  custom  was  comparatively  new 
it  was  the  occasion  for  both  preaching  and  feasting. 
The  army  observed  it  with  reverence.  In  the  words 
of  Timothy  Dwight,  in  his  sermon  of  that  day,  it  was 
the  surrender  of  Burgoyne  which  ''infixed  such  a 
wound  upon  British  pride,  as  it  hath  scarcely  received 
during  the  century  ;  "  and  by  so  much  as  this  was  true, 
the  spirit  of  glorification  was  manifested  among  the 
people. 

There  is  nothing  exceptional  to  record  of  the  re- 
maining years  of  the  war.  In  1778  Congress  ap- 
pointed both  a  spring  fast,  April  22,  and  an  autumn 
thanksgiving,  December  30,  and  though  several  of 
the  States  anticipated  these  dates,  they  kept  the  na- 
tional appointment  as  well.  Other  than  these  there 
were  no  special  days.  Such  also  is  the  record  of 
1779.  In  1780  the  only  special  day  we  have  recov- 
ered was  the  20th  of  July  in  Massachusetts,  a  fast 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  345 

on  account  of  the  late  operations  of  the  war.  As  the 
war  progressed  the  people  were  somewhat  relieved  of 
their  anxiety,  and  hence  there  was  less  to  demand 
exceptional  days.  Every  fast  day  had  some  discour- 
agement to  note,  and  every  thanksgiving  some  ac- 
knowledgment of  gratitude  for  relief  or  success. 
The  States  had  come  to  look  to  Congress  for  procla- 
mations, and  these  were  regular  and  less  connected 
with  the  war.  This  materially  assisted  the  decadence 
of  the  old  New  England  system,  but  it  furthered  the 
national  appointment  of  such  days.  One  reason  for 
their  spreading  popularity  was  the  patriotic  uses  they 
were  put  to  everywhere.  The  public  fasts  which, 
throughout  the  war,  were  being  kept  in  England  were 
more  or  less  restricted  by  the  form  of  service  ;  ^  these 
of  America,  and  especially  among  the  Congregational 
and  Presbyterian  churches,  were  a  great  political  as 
well  as  religious  force.  A  sentiment  of  nationalism 
connected  itself  with  the  day.  The  preacher's  words 
went  outside  of  his  little  congregation.  The  people 
were  impressed  with  the  fact  that  the  colonies  were 
united,  even  so  far  religiously  as  to  recognize  the  same 
day.  Religious  bodies,  such  as  the  Synod  of  New  York 
and  Philadelphia,  commended  the  custom.  Even  the 
Episcopalians,  of  whom  the  majority  were  naturally 
loyalists,  sometimes  read  the  proclamations  of  the  Con- 
tinental CongTCSS,  and  united  in  the  services,  though 

^  Forms  of  prayer  were  issued  in  England  for  these  days.  The 
following  is  from  that  of  February  27,  1778:  "Give  grace,  we  be- 
seech thee,  to  our  unhappy  fellow-subjects  in  America.  .  .  .  Grant  us 
not  only  strength  and  courage  to  withstand  them,  but  charity  to  for- 
give and  pity  them,  to  receive  them  again  as  friends  and  brethren, 
upon  just  and  reasonable  terms." 


346         FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

in  some  quarters  the  patriotic  rectors  were  condemned 
for  it.i 

So  the  years  passed,  and  the  war  came  to  an  end. 
The  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  in  the  autumn  of 
1783.  Congress  had  omitted  the  setting  of  a  spring 
fast  that  year,  and  the  States,  having  expected  one, 
were  late  in  their  appointments.  Perhaps  some 
failed  altogether,  or  left  it  to  the  churches.  But  for 
the  final  peace  it  set  a  day  of  thanksgiving,  the  11th 
of  December.  It  must  have  been  a  great  day  in 
New  England.  Particular  sermons  were  delivered 
everywhere,  and  those  in  print  make  up  an  interest- 
ing series.  So  the  fathers  and  mothers  of  the  Rev- 
olution went  up  to  their  meeting-houses  to  render 
praises  to  God,  and  gathered  their  heroes  with  re- 
joicing at  the  thanksgiving  feast. 

1  Hist.  Coll.  of  Am.  Col  Chh.,  Dr.  Perry,  Penn.  pp.  470,  471 ;  and 
Mass.  pp.  602-637. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE   GOOD    FRIDAY    FAST    IN    CONNECTICUT. 

1795-1797. 

The  accomplished  occupant  of  the  Easy  Chair  in 
"  Harper's  Magazine,"  a  few  years  since,  meditated  thus 
upon  the  annual  fast  day  in  Connecticut :  "In  Con- 
necticut, the  State  in  which  the  austerest  Puritanism 
longest  survived,  Good  Friday  was  observed  as  Fast 
Day !  "  ^  It  was  in  1891  that  this  apparent  surprise 
at  the  liberal  sentiment  in  Connecticut  was  ex- 
pressed; and  the  impression  was  conveyed  that  it 
was  a  departure  from  the  customs  of  the  fathers, 
whereas  the  first  appointment  of  the  annual  fast  by 
the  governor  upon  Good  Friday  was  in  1795,  and 
smce  1797  such  has  been  the  continuous  practice. 
The  majority  of  historical  students  will  not  agree 
that  "the  austerest  Puritanism  longest  survived"  in 
Connecticut.  The  fact  is  quite  the  contrary,  for 
though  the  early  settlers  in  the  Connecticut  and  New 
Haven  colonies  brought  with  them  much  of  Puritan 
strength  m  education  and  religion,  they  imbibed  to  a 
remarkable  degree  the  more  liberal  spirit  of  the  Pil- 
grims. Of  this  the  origin  of  the  Good  Friday  fast 
is  an  illustration.  Within  a  dozen  years  after  the 
Revolution,  —  which  certainly  did  not  increase  the 
popularity  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  New  England, 

1  Harper'' s  Magazine^  June,  1891. 


848         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

—  Connecticut,  largely  out  of  its  charity  toward 
those  to  whom  its  ancient  custom  was  an  annoyance, 
began  to  appoint  its  annual  fast  upon  the  day  they 
were  accustomed  to  observe.  If  it  was  a  State  in 
which  the  austerest  Puritanism  prevailed,  with  some- 
thing of  prejudice  against  Episcopacy,  this  was  all  the 
more  creditable  to  it.  In  some  other  States,  such  as 
Virginia,  it  would  have  had  no  significance,  for  there 
the  Episcopal  Church  had  been  dominant.  Nor  can 
it  be  said  that  these  were  the  first  Good  Friday  fasts 
in  New  England.  Such  had  been  appointed  on  sev- 
eral occasions  in  New  Hampshire  fifty  years  before, 
under  the  administration  of  Governor  Benning  Went- 
worth,  who  was  an  ardent  churchman. ^  But  there 
they  were  not  continuous,  nor  was  the  change  re- 
ceived with  general  approval.  The  next  adminis- 
tration returned  to  the  practice  of  earlier  times,  in 
which  Massachusetts  had  tutored  her  neighbors.  Con- 
necticut was  not  without  an  inherited  fear  of  depar- 
ture from  the  faith.  When  Roger  Sherman  began  to 
note  the  fasts  and  feasts  of  the  Church  of  England 
in  his  almanac,  there  were  those  who  discarded  it  on 
that  account.^  After  the  Revolution,  however,  this 
feeling  was  ameUorated,  and  largely  through  the  per- 
sonal influence  of  some  most  prominent  citizens.  In- 
deed, there  are  numerous  evidences  of  the  fraternal 
spirit    then    existing   between    the   various    reUgious 

1  Governor  Wentworth  set  fasts  for  Fridays  other  than  "  Good  Fri- 
day," and  upon  Wednesdays.  There  were  Good  Friday  fasts  March 
28,  1746;  April  4,  1760;  April  1,  1763;  April  20,  1764.  Possibly 
there  were  others. 

2  This  was  several  yeare  earlier  than  the  adoption  of  the  practice 
by  Ames'  Almanack.  In  Roger  Sherman's  Almanac  for  1758  will  be 
found  his  defense  against  this  complaint. 


GOOD  FRIDAY  FAST  IN  CONNECTICUT,    349 

bodies.  The  stronger  did  not  oppress  the  weaker,  and 
oftentimes  received  signal  courtesies  at  their  hands. 
Still,  there  were  doubtless  dissensions  here  and  there. 
In  1791  a  law  was  passed,  —  the  text  of  which  is 
given  elsewhere,  —  which  prohibited  labor  and  recrea- 
tion upon  public  fast  and  thanksgiving  days.  This 
was  probably  called  forth  by  the  neglect  of  some  to 
keep  them  after  the  ancient  understanding  as  Sab- 
baths. It  has  been  said  that  some  were  brought 
before  justices  of  the  peace  for  the  violation  of  this 
law.  It  may  have  been  so,  though  we  have  found 
no  evidence  of  such  trials.  The  churchmen  could 
readily  find  excuse  for  keeping  Good  Friday  and 
refusing  to  keep  a  fast  day  during  Easter  week,  and 
it  is  not  unlikely  that  their  uncharitable  neighbors 
would  bring  them  into  court  upon  the  slightest  pre- 
tense. Such  a  condition  of  affairs  would  tend  to 
agitate  the  wiser  and  more  kindly  disposed  to  seek 
some  solution  of  the  difficulty.  It  should,  however, 
be  noted  that  this  law  only  required  abstinence  from 
labor  and  recreations,  leaving  all  to  their  liberty  in 
fasting  and  holding  services  in  their  churches.  Upon 
the  whole  we  are  persuaded  that  it  met  with  the 
approval  of  the  leading  churchmen  as  weU  as  others, 
except  in  the  particular  instances  where  the  fast  day 
came  during  Easter  week. 

It  is  our  purpose  now  to  show  how  this  change  of 
the  annual  fast  day  to  Good  Friday  came  about.  The 
19th  of  February,  1795,  was  appointed  by  President 
George  Washington  as  a  national  thanksgiving  day ; 
there  the  recital  begins.  Rev.  Samuel  Seabury  was 
then  the  bishop  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Connecticut 
and  Rhode  Island.     He  was  respected  by  aU,  and  be- 


350         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

loved  by  many  who  were  not  under  his  spiritual  care. 
His  home  was  at  New  London,  where  he  ministered 
in  St.  James  Church.  Hon.  Samuel  Huntington  was 
then  the  governor  of  the  State,  —  a  man  highly  re- 
garded for  his  eminent  services  to  the  nation,  of  good 
education  and  a  liberal  mind,  and,  though  himself  a 
Congregation  alist,  upon  the  most  friendly  terms  with 
Bishop  Seabury.  His  home  was  in  Norwich,  where 
at  that  very  time  the  Episcopalians  and  Congrega- 
tionaUsts  were  worshiping  in  the  same  sanctuary  by 
the  courtesy  of  the  former,  the  latter's  church  having 
been  destroyed  by  fire.  Withal  Governor  Hunting- 
ton was  a  man  of  peace,  and  such  comments  upon 
this  trait  are  found  in  the  manuscripts  of  his  contempo- 
raries that  it  must  be  considered  a  notable  characteris- 
tic. The  national  thanksgiving  day  above  mentioned 
fell  in  Lent,  being  the  next  day  after  Ash  Wednes- 
day. It  did  not  seem  to  the  Episcopal  community  at 
New  London  an  appropriate  time  for  thanksgiving, 
and  there  was  some  surprise  expressed  that  an  Epis- 
copalian like  Washington  should  have  so  far  forgotten 
himself  as  to  have  named  that  date.  So  the  procla- 
mation was  not  read  in  St.  James  Church  the  Sab- 
bath before,  and  the  day  was  not  observed.  Thereupon 
some  ardent  admirers  of  Washington,  who,  for  politi- 
cal reasons,  were  especially  sensitive  to  reflections  upon 
the  government,  were  moved  with  great  indignation 
against  the  Episcopalians.  One  who  signs  himself 
"  Plain  Truth,"  under  date  "  New  London,  March  4, 
1795,"  addressed  a  communication  to  the  editor  of 
the  "  Connecticut  Gazette,"  of  New  London,  in  which 
he  refers  to  the  matter  as  "  the  people  insulted  in  the 
government  by  a  late  instance  of   contempt  in  this 


GOOD  FRIDAY  FAST  IN  CONNECTICUT.     351 

city."^  From  this  communication  we  give  this  ex- 
tract :  "In  direct  contempt  of  this  order  of  the  highest 
officer  of  the  State,  the  proclamation  was  not  read  in 
the  Episcopal  church  in  this  city,  —  and  to  complete 
the  system  of  disrespect  to  the  Government  on  the  day 
appointed  for  public  Thanksgiving  the  church  was 
shut  up,  and  no  notice  taken  of  the  dayT  In  the  is- 
sue of  the  same  newspaper  the  week  following  appears 
a  long  article  entitled  "  The  Churchman's  Apology," 
which  was  attributed  at  the  time,  and  we  now  know 
correctly,  to  Bishop  Seabury  himself.^  It  is  emi- 
nently worthy  of  him,  for  it  is  in  the  kindliest  spirit, 
and  takes  no  notice  of  the  aspersion  of  "  Plain  Truth" 
on  "  an  ecclesiastic  dignified  in  his  own  estimation." 
A  considerable  part  of  the  article  is  devoted  to  ex- 
plaining the  significance  of  "  the  Christian  year  "  in 
the  Episcopal  Church,  but  the  latter  part  is  worthy  of 
a  permanent  place  in  the  literature  of  this  subject, 
as  the  utterance  of  the  first  American  bishop,  recov- 
ered from  an  old  newspaper.     It  is  as  f oUows :  — 

*'  I  have  also  to  remark,  that,  according  to  the  sketch  I  have 
given,  from  Ashwednesday  to  Easter  appears  to  be  a  season  of 
fasting  and  humiliation  in  the  church;  from  Easter  to  Whit- 
sunday a  season  of  rejoicing  and  thanksgiving  to  God,  for 
Christ's  resurrection,  for  the  happy  prospect  of  our  own  resur- 
rection from  death  through  him,  and  for  all  the  blessings  of 
redeeming  love. 

*'  I  hope  it  will  be  allowed  that  church  people  have  a  regard 

1  Conn.  Gazette,  March  12,  1795,  No.  1635 ;  Am.  Mercury,  March 
16,  1795,  No.  558. 

2  Conn.  Gazette,  March  19,  1795,  No.  1636.  Since  arriving  at  the 
conclusion  that  Bishop  Seabury  was  the  author  of  this  article,  we  have 
been  informed,  by  the  courtesy  of  Rev.  William  J.  Seabury,  D.  D.,  that 
the  original  draft  of  the  same  in  the  bishop's  own  handwriting,  to- 
gether with  a  copy  of  the  Conn.  Gazette  in  which  it  appeared,  is  pre- 
served among  the  bishop's  manuscripts. 


352  FAST  AND  THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

for  the  church  to  which  they  belong,  —  an  equal  affection  for 
their  religion  with  that  which  other  Christians  feel  for  theirs. 
Their  religion  is  a  system  of  doctrines  and  duties,  to  which 
they  are  bound  by  rules,  and  are  not  left  to  humor  or  fancy. 
Easter  will  fall  this  year  on  the  fifth  of  April.  Ashwednesday 
fell  on  the  18th  of  February.  Between  these  days  is  a  season 
of  fasting  and  humiliation.  The  public  Thanksgiving  was  on 
the  19th  day  of  February,  the  2d  day  of  Lent.  If  church 
people  have  a  regard  to  the  rules  of  their  church,  which  some 
of  them  certainly  have,  and  an  affection  for  their  religion  equal 
with  other  Christians,  it  must  have  been  disagreeable  to  them 
to  be  called  from  the  season  of  humiliation  and  repentance,  to 
a  day  of  rejoicing  and  thanksgiving.  I  presume  they  have  as 
much  religion  as  their  neighbors.  They  must,  therefore,  have 
felt  severely,  the  disagreeable  necessity  they  were  under  of 
disregarding  the  regulations  of  their  church,  or  disregarding 
the  President's  proclamation.  Some  chose  to  do  the  latter. 
Yet  I  never"  heard  fault  found  with  the  President's  appoint- 
ment. That  it  fell  in  Lent  was  supposed  to  be  an  accident. 
The  church-people  never  imagined  it  was  intended  to  wound 
them;  and  they  trust  his  affection  for  the  church,  the  goodness 
of  his  heart,  his  regard  for  the  equal  rights  of  all  religious 
denominations  in  the  United  States  will  prevent  the  repetition 
of  such  an  appointment.  The  President  they  love,  they  pray 
God  to  continue  and  increase  the  graces  of  his  heart,  to  perfect 
the  virtues  of  his  life,  to  bless  him  with  every  prosperity  in  this 
world,  and  to  lead  him  to  eternal  felicity  in  the  world  to  come. 
I  hope,  however,  that  it  will  not  be  imputed  to  them  as  a  crime, 
that  they  love  their  God  better  than  any  man,  and  regard  more 
the  interests  of  eternity  than  those  of  this  world. 

"  And  as  it  is  disagreeable  to  the  church-people  to  be  called  by 
authority  to  observe  days  of  Thanksgiving  in  Lent,  it  is  equally 
disagreeable  to  be  called  on  to  observe  days  of  Fasting  in  the 
season  appointed  by  the  church  to  praise  God  for  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ  and  the  happy  prospect  of  eternal  life  opened  to 
us  by  him.  Yet  I  believe  that  three  times  in  four,  the  annual 
Fast  in  Connecticut  is  by  authority  appointed  in  Easter  week; 
a  week  of  highest  joy  and  praise  to  the  people  of  the  church  of 
any  in  the  year.  It  was  some  years  ago  reported  that  Bishop 
Seabury  had  mentioned  this  matter  to  Governor  Huntington, 
and  that  his  Excellency  kindly  told  him,  that  as  far  as  his  influ- 


GOOD  FRIDAY  FAST  IN  CONNECTICUT.     353 

ence  extended  it  should  not  be  repeated.  It  has  not,  however, 
been  mended.  So  that,  if  the  report  be  true,  I  must  suppose 
the  Governor  has  been  overruled  in  the  appointments. 

"  I  only  beg  that  it  may  be  considered  that  church-people 
have  the  same  feelings  and  passions  with  others;  that  they  are 
equally  hurt  by  unkind  usage;  and  then  it  will  be  easy  to  con- 
ceive what  must  be  their  sensations,  after  having  gone  thro'  a 
long  discipline  by  fasting  and  abstinence  from  bodily  pleasures 
to  be  called  back  from  joy  and  gratitude  to  God  for  the  great- 
est blessing  ever  bestowed  on  man,  to  observe  a  day  of  fasting 
and  mortification.  We  live  in  a  time  which  boasts  of  its  light, 
especially  in  the  rights  of  man,  and  in  a  country  which  boasts 
of  its  candor  and  liberality  of  sentiment,  —  where  the  rights  of 
conscience  are  equal  and  secure;  I  hope  church-men  are  not 
worse  than  their  neighbors,  nor  worse  members  of  civil  society. 
They  ask  the  equal  rights  of  conscience  —  They  ask  the  free 
practice  of  their  religion  in  their  own  way,  which  they  think 
will  hurt  nobody  —  They  ask  to  be  exempt  from  observing  days 
of  Thanksgiving  in  Lent,  or  of  Fasting  from  Easter  to  Trinity 
Sunday.  This  indulgence  they  presume  will  not  detract  from 
the  dignity  or  influence  of  a  government  which  they  esteem 
and  love,  and  which,  I  believe,  they  are  equally  ready  with 
their  neighbors  to  support.  If  they  are  gratified  they  will  be 
thankful,  tho'  they  suppose  that  gratification  is  their  right.  If 
they  are  to  continue  under  the  inconveniences  they  have  long 
felt,  they  must  regard  it  as  the  dispensation  of  God's  provi- 
dence to  exercise  their  patience,  and  endeavor  by  his  grace  to 
let  patience  have  her  perfect  work." 

The  next  week  "  Plain  Truth  "  published  a  "  Reply 
to  the  Churchman's  Apology,"  ^  in  which  he  notes 
that  the  reasons  for  not  observing  the  thanksgiving 
"  may  doubtless  be  considered  as  coming  from  the  best 
authority,"  and  commends  his  frankness.  The  day, 
he  says,  was  observed  by  "  the  Episcopal  clergy  in  gen- 
eral in  Connecticut  and  universally  in  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania."  He  censures,  however,  the  principle 
of  opposing  the  canons  of  the  church  to  the  govern- 

1  Conn.  Gazette^  March  26,  1795,  No.  1637. 


354        FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING   DAYS. 

ment.  In  the  same  paper  is  another  contribution  in 
reply  to  the  ''  Apology,"  which  attacks  the  keeping  of 
Lent  in  general,  and  cites  the  example  of  the  king  of 
England  as  appointing  thanksgivings  without  regard 
to  the  fasting  season.  These  replies  do  not  deal 
with  the  bishop's  point  as  to  the  annual  fast.  Here 
this  controversy  was  lost  in  another,  growing  out  of 
the  same  national  appointment,  of  which  we  shall  have 
some  things  to  record  further  on,  and  which  had  some 
influence  in  winning  favor  for  the  Episcopal  cause.  A 
month  later,  however,  a  short  article  was  published  in 
defense  of  the  government,  which  is  here  given :  ^  — 

Mr.  Green,  —  Please  insert  the  following  in  answer  to  the 
Churchman's  reflection  on  the  honorable  Council  of  this  State, 
wherein  he  would  insinuate  a  design  in  them  to  prevent  the 
churchman's  celebrating  the  feast  of  Easter  in  his  own  way,  by- 
appointing  the  annual  Fast  on  that  day,  and  in  confirmation  says 
that  it  is  appointed  in  Easter  week  three  times  in  four.  I  can- 
not but  observe  his  mistake  in  this.  Our  forefathers  from  their 
settlement  of  this  plantation  observed  a  day  of  fasting  in  the 
spring  of  the  year,  to  supplicate  the  Almighty  to  bless  their 
labors  and  to  cause  the  land  to  bring  forth  its  increase  ;  and  the 
month  of  April  was  by  them  thought  most  proper,  and  that 
solemnity  was  appointed  generally  on  the  second  Thursday  of 
April.  Looking  over  an  old  kalendar  in  my  prayer  book,  to 
find  Easter  for  forty  years,  I  find  it  will  fall  ten  times  in  March, 
and  seven  times  on  the  20th  of  April  and  upwards  ;  and  sixteen 
times  on  the  10th  of  April  and  downwards  ;  so  that  there  are 
but  seven  days  between  the  20th  and  the  10th  in  which  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  annual  Fast  in  this  State  is  likely  to  interfere 
with  Easter  in  forty  years,  —  the  Council  holding  to  the  antient 
custom  of  appointing  the  second  Thursday.  I  do  not  know  why 
the  people  of  Connecticut  have  not  as  good  right  to  their  antient 
custom  of  a  Fast  in  the  middle  of  April  as  others  to  a  moveable 
feast,  dodging  about,  sometimes  as  far  as  the  21st  of  March, 
and  then  extending  away  to  the  25th  of  April.     However,  the 

1  Conn.  Gazette,  April  30,  1795,  No.  1642. 


GOOD  FRIDAY  FAST  IN  CONNECTICUT.     355 

Council,  not  knowing  anything  of  the  Churchman's  Apology  ap- 
pointed the  annual  Fast  this  year  early  as  the  3d  of  April,  and 
on  Friday,  (which  was  never  known  before)  without  giving  any 
offence  to  the  most  rigid  of  those  for  keeping  to  the  rule  estab- 
lished by  their  pious  forefathers.  How  different  the  bigot? 
But  it  will  be  very  difficult  for  the  Council  in  future  to  adhere 
to  the  custom  of  appointing  the  annual  Fast  in  April,  so  as  not 
to  interfere  with  the  County  Courts  in  Hartford  and  Danbury, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  avoid  Easter  week,  and  if  it  should  so 
happen,  as  to  interfere  with  Easter  once  in  a  while,  it  is  better 
so,  than  that  the  old  custom  of  the  annual  Fast  in  the  spring 
of  the  year,  in  the  month  of  April,  the  most  suitable  time  to  im- 
plore a  blessing  on  the  ensueing  summer,  should  be  appointed 
before  the  21st  of  March  or  in  May,  in  order  to  steer  clear  of 
Easter  week.  But  we  have  no  reason  to  think  otherwise  than 
that  our  honorable  Council  will  oblige  any  respectable  part  of 
the  community,  that  may  apply  to  them  in  a  decent  way,  to 
relieve  them  from  keeping  a  Day  of  Fasting  on  Easter  Week, 
whenever  it  may  be  consistent  with  the  appointment  of  Courts, 
and  the  ancient  custom  of  the  State,  in  ordering  their  annual 
Fast  in  the  middle  of  the  week  and  in  the  month  of  April. 

Pacificus. 

The  reader  has  thus  before  him  the  documents  re- 
lating to  this  agitation,  and  the  views  of  both  parties. 
As  to  the  day  when  the  annual  fast  had  been  ap- 
pointed in  previous  years,  the  "  three  times  in  four  " 
to  which  the  bishop  refers  were  during  the  years  1791 
to  1794,  in  the  last  of  which  it  fell  in  Lent,  and  in 
the  other  three  during  Easter  week,  which  was  more 
than  the  ratio  before  that,  though  the  point  was  not 
essential,  as  it  did  happen  so,  very  frequently.  It 
appears,  therefore,  that  on  some  occasion  previous  to 
1795,  and  perhaps  in  connection  with  the  law  of  1791, 
Bishop  Seabury  had  called  the  attention  of  Governor 
Huntington  to  the  annoyance  suffered  among  the 
Episcopalians  by  having  the  annual  fast  in  Easter 
week,  and   the  governor  had   assured   him  that   he 


356         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

would  use  his  influence  to  prevent  its  recurrence; 
but  when  the  difficulties  were  brought  out  it  was  evi- 
dently not  possible  at  all  times,  and  probably  the 
report  was  true  that  he  failed  to  bring  the  members 
of  the  council  to  his  view.  The  churchmen,  so  far 
as  we  know,  had  never  asked  that  the  fast  be  ap- 
pointed on  Good  Friday.  It  probably  never  occurred 
to  them  that  such  a  radical  change  was  possible. 
They  were  willing  to  observe  the  day  during  Lent, 
and  in  Holy  Week  they  were  accustomed  to  hold  fast 
services,  but  they  did  object  to  the  day  during  Easter 
week.  It  was  without  doubt,  therefore.  Governor 
Huntington  who  proposed  to  the  council  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  first  Friday  in  April.  The  second  week 
would  have  been  Easter  week,  and  would  also  have 
interfered  with  the  county  courts.  They  must  choose 
between  the  third  and  the  first,  and  if  the  latter, 
Thursday  would  have  been  the  day  before  Good 
Friday,  which  would  seem  to  countenance  the  supersti- 
tion of  days  of  the  week,  so  they  wisely  determined 
to  try  the  experiment  of  selecting  Good  Friday. 
Thus  Governor  Hmitington  appears  to  have  kept  his 
promise  to  the  bishop,  since  this  was  done  without 
any  knowledge  of  "  The  Churchman's  Apology,"  which 
was  printed  on  the  19th  of  March,  while  the  procla- 
mation is  dated  the  10th.  If  the  reader  wiU  now 
recur  to  the  situation  at  that  time,  he  will  find  rea- 
son to  suspect  that  this  was  partly  dictated  by  a 
desire  to  allay  the  excitement  occasioned  by  the  re- 
ported neglect  of  St.  James  Church,  of  which  the 
governor,  so  near  by,  must  have  been  advised.  In 
setting  Good  Friday,  April  3,  they  chose  a  day  which 
neither   Episcopalians    nor    Congregationalists   could 


GOOD  FRIDAY  FAST  IN  CONNECTICUT.    357 

consistently  refuse  to  keep,  for  the  former  were  com- 
pelled to  it  by  the  canons  of  their  church,  and  the 
latter  by  their  own  arguments  for  the  respect  due 
civil  authority.  We  may  infer  from  the  communica- 
tion of  "  Pacificus,"  who,  if  not  the  governor  him- 
self, was  surely  one  who  knew,  that  there  was  some 
criticism  of  the  appointment  by  the  ''bigots,"  so 
called,  but  that  no  offense  was  given  thereby  to  the 
most  liberal  and  charitable  portion  of  the  citizens. 
Yet  it  was  not  then  considered  as  a  final  settlement 
of  the  matter,  but  only  an  experiment  suggested  by 
the  circumstances. 

We  now  turn  back  to  the  Thanksgiving  ordered  by 
the  President,  to  trace  m  brief  another  controversy 
which  grew  out  of  it.  It  had  been  suggested,  in  a  cir- 
cular sent  abroad  through  the  instrumentality  of  the 
late  commissioner  of  the  United  States  to  Algiers, 
David  Humphreys,  that  a  general  collection  be  taken 
on  the  thanksgiving  day  for  the  redemption  of  cap- 
tives.^ Bishop  Seabury,  out  of  his  benevolence,  issued 
a  recommendation  to  his  diocese  that  such  an  offering 
be  taken  up  on  the  third  Sunday  in  March,  and  signed 
himself  "  Samuel  Bp.  of  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Is- 
land." 2  This  called  out  a  sarcastic  article  from  one 
"  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island,"  in  which  this  title 
was  called  "  a  pompous  expression  of  priestly  pride," 
as  he  was  only  the  Bishop  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in 
Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island,  —  as  the  bishops  of 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania  were  wont  to  style  them- 

1  Conn.  Gazette,  March  26,  1795,  No.  1637.  There  were  then  at 
least  thirteen  ships  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  captives  in 
Algiers. 

2  Ibid.,  February  19, 1795,  No.  1632. 


358        FAST  AND  THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

selves.^  The  bishop  did  not  trouble  himself  about  the 
matter,  but  he  had  a  champion  in  the  "Newport 
Mercuiy  "  who  wrote  under  the  name  "  Aletheia,"  and 
a  "Presbyterian "  at  home  who  bestirred  himself  in  his 
behalf.  On  the  other  hand  "Sidney"  and  "Anony- 
mous "  came  to  the  assistance  of  "  Connecticut  and 
Rhode  Island."  2  go  fQj.  weeks  quite  a  stir  was  made 
about  this  spiritual  title,  all  of  which,  we  conclude, 
was  probably  urged  on  by  the  bigots'  disgust  over  the 
solution  of  the  fast  day  question,  which  might  readily 
have  been  attributed  to  Episcopal  influence.  They 
could  not  reflect  on  the  appointment  without  censur- 
ing the  council,  so  they  vented  their  feelings  upon  the 
supposed  cause  of  the  change.  However  this  may  be, 
the  words  of  "  Presbyterian  "  in  reply  to  the  insinua- 
tions of  the  bishop's  enemies  should  be  recorded  as 
the  best  sentiment  of  the  people :  "  The  private  char- 
acter of  Bishop  Seabury  will  bear  the  test  of  the 
strictest  scrutiny  ;  it  has  the  universal  respect  and 
esteem  of  the  citizens  of  New  London,  and  cannot  be 
shaken  by  vile  calumny."  So  this  episode  only  tended 
to  increase  the  kindly  feeling  toward  the  churchmen. 
This  also  was  accomplished :  the  public  attention  was 
diverted  from  criticism  of  what  was  really  a  radical 
change  in  Connecticut  customs.  The  Good  Friday 
fast  slipped  in  quite  naturally,  and  without  popular 
discussion,  which  would  have  roused  some  resistance. 
A  precedent  was  established,  and  the  day  was  kept  by 

1  Am.  Mercury,  March  16,  1795,  No.  558.  This  article  was  also  sent 
to  the  Conn.  Gazette,  but  that  paper  would  not  publish  it  until  after- 
wards urgfed  to  do  so  {Conn.  Gazette,  March  26,  1795). 

2  See  Conn.  Gazette,  April  16,  April  23,  April  30,  and  May  7,  1795  ; 
Am.  Mercury,  April  20  and  April  27,  1795 ;  Newport  Mercury,  April, 
1795. 


GOOD  FRIDAY  FAST  IN  CONNECTICUT.    359 

all  denominations  in  their  own  way,  and  without  doubt 
as  profitably  as  it  would  have  been  on  any  other  day. 

Before  the  time  came  for  appointing  the  fast  day  of 
1796,  both  Bishop  Seabury  and  Governor  Huntington 
were  dead.  Hon.  Oliver  Wolcott  was  in  the  guber- 
natorial office.  Perhaps  he  thought  it  wise  to  return 
to  the  former  custom.  Possibly  he  had  never  con- 
sidered the  matter,  or  was  overruled  by  the  council. 
Great  latitude  was  given  the  governor  in  such  busi- 
ness, but  in  this  instance  the  proclamation  has  the 
clause  with  ''advice  of  Council."  At  aU  events  he 
appointed  Thursday,  April  14,  which  did  not  fall 
within  Easter  week.^ 

In  1797  Easter  was  April  16.  The  problem  was 
fairly  before  them.  The  governor  did  not  wish  to 
set  the  day  during  Easter  week,  after  what  had  been 
so  kindly  said  against  it,  and  he  could  not  set  it  in 
any  other  than  Holy  Week  on  account  of  the  coimty 
courts.  Nor  would  he  be  so  discourteous  as  to  name 
a  Wednesday  or  Thursday  of  that  week.  So  a  second 
time  the  day  was  on  Good  Friday.  It  is  noticeable 
that  this  proclamation  omits  the  clause  "with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  Council,"  and  probably  they 
were  not  called  together  for  the  purpose.^ 

In  1798  the  younger  Jonathan  Trumbull,  of  Leb- 
anon, was  acting-governor.  There  were  some  reasons 
which  would  have  influenced  him  to  foUow  the  pre- 
cedent already  established.     It  had  appeared  that  the 

^  The  proclamation  was  doubtless  printed  at  Litchfield  by  Collier 
and  Buel,  as  the  imperfect  cut  of  the  seal  would  suggest,  being  with- 
out the  motto,  *'  Qui.  Tran.  Sust."' 

2  Original  draft  in  Wolcott  Papers,  iv.  93,  Conn.  Hist.  Soc.  The 
fast  proclamation  of  1798  has  the  clause,  but  that  of  1799  has  7iot. 
That  of  1797  was  printed  at  Litchfield. 


360         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

fast  on  Good  Friday  had  not  hurt  any  one.  Certain  it 
is,  as  the  manuscript  draft  in  the  archives  of  the  Con- 
necticut Historical  Society  shows,  that  when  he  wrote 
the  proclamation  of  1798,  he  regarded  the  question  as 
settled  either  by  the  council  or  precedent,  for  he  wrote 
in  the  date  of  Good  Friday.  Trumbull  occupied  the 
governor's  chair  until  his  death  in  1809,  and  surely 
found  it  easy  to  follow  his  own  example. 

In  the  papers  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society 
there  is  a  letter  to  Governor  Trumbull  from  Bishop 
Jarvis,  under  date  February  19,  1802,  concerning  the 
appointment  of  that  year.  The  standard  almanac  had 
put  Easter  on  April  25,  but  by  the  church  calendar  it 
came  on  the  18th.  It  was  to  advise  the  governor  of 
this  error  that  the  bishop  wrote.  But  it  is  to  show  the 
absence  of  any  dictatorial  spirit  that  this  reference 
is  made.  After  remarking  that  "in  some  former 
instances "  His  Excellency  had  thought  proper  to 
appoint  the  fast  on  Good  Friday,  he  makes  the  cor- 
rection, and  further  says :  "  What  attention  your  Ex- 
cellency may  be  disposed  to  give  to  the  day  of  very 
solemn  estimation  in  the  church  in  your  appointment 
of  the  vernal  Fast  I  do  not  venture  prematurely  to 
judge.  My  intention  is  nothing  more  than  if  there 
should  be  occasion  for  it,  barely  to  suggest  to  your 
Excellency  that  I  trust  there  will  be  no  diversity 
either  in  Europe  or  America,  but  that  Easter  will  be 
celebrated  universally  on  the  eighteenth."  The  gov- 
ernor's reply,  March  15,  is  also  preserved,  and  says 
he  has  already  decided  on  April  16  and  sent  his 
proclamation  to  press. 

Thus  the  custom  came  about  in  Connecticut.  It 
has  been  continuous  since,  and  has  never  been  objected 


GOOD  FRIDAY  FAST  IN  CONNECTICUT.     361 

to  by  the  people.  For  some  years  it  retained  among 
the  Congregationalists  its  ancient  character,  as  the 
themes  treating  upon  it  show ;  but  the  fact  commem- 
orated upon  that  day  has  gradually  been  gaining  im- 
portance in  its  thought.  It  is  of  common  interest  to 
all  Christian  denominations.  Some  have  objected  to 
the  appointment  by  civil  authorities,  which  is  thought 
to  serve  no  reHgious  purpose,  and  others  to  the  holi- 
day character  given  to  it ;  but  the  day  is  observed 
less  as  a  civil  fast,  and  more  as  a  church  day.  It  is  in 
fact  a  return  to  the  conceptions  of  the  early  Puritans, 
—  a  fast  which  they  would  have  kept,  as  Christmas 
and  Easter,  could  they  have  separated  these  from 
saints'  days  and  the  prevailing  irreligious  customs.  It 
is  not  the  institution  of  early  New  England,  and  is 
a  fast  to  which  they  would  have  decidedly  objected ; 
but  it  seems,  nevertheless,  to  serve  best  the  spiritual 
purpose  of  the  fathers. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE   POLITICAL    FAST   IN  MASSACHUSETTS. 

1789-1799. 

It  may  be  said,  in  a  general  view,  that  the  fast 
and  thanksgiving  days  of  Massachusetts  have  passed 
through  three  periods  to  their  present  development. 
The  observance  which  the  forefathers  brought  from 
old  England  was  religious,  having  its  motive  in  the 
doctrine  of  Divine  Providence,  and  this  was  main- 
tained with  vigor  down  to  the  establishment  of  the 
provincial  government.  With  the  adoption  of  the 
system  of  annual  appointments,  particularly  as  to  the 
fast  day,  came  in  an  observance  having  its  affiliations 
with  the  season  of  the  year,  the  events  of  which  it 
chronicled,  and  this  was  characteristic  through  the 
Revolution.  After  the  organization  of  the  federal 
government,  the  observance  —  though  retaining  the 
semblance  of  the  first  period,  and  operating  through 
the  system  of  the  second  —  was  infused  with  the 
political  spirit,  which  has  been,  on  the  whole,  domi- 
nant in  it  to  the  present  time.  The  fast  day  espe- 
cially may  be  characterized  as  successively  religious, 
historical,  and  political. 

The  political  sermon  on  a  fast  or  thanksgiving  day 
is  not  a  modern  innovation.  Aside  from  all  the 
arguments  which  may  now  be  offered  in  its  favor,  this 
is  preeminently  true :  at  the  time  of  its  introduction 


POLITICAL  FAST  IN  MASSACHUSETTS.    363 

the  clergy  occupied  such  a  position  in  relation  to 
pubKc  affairs  that  they  would  have  thought  them- 
selves culpable  had  they  been  silent  upon  them  in 
their  pulpits.  During  the  American  Revolution  their 
influence  had  increased  rather  than  diminished.  They 
were  the  intimate  friends  and  often  the  advisers  of 
public  men,  and  entertained  positive  views  upon  the 
various  issues  which  necessarily  arose  in  the  organi- 
zation of  government.  The  congregational  polity, 
which  had  secretly  wrought  in  state  governments, 
and  materially  influenced  the  union  of  the  States,  was 
a  theme  to  which  they  had  been  born.  Moreover,  it 
so  happened  that  the  questions  which  directed  the 
first  decade  of  political  agitation  after  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution,  namely  the  relations  to  foreign 
nations,  and  particularly  the  influence  of  France, 
brought  with  them  matters  of  great  moment  to  the 
religious  beUefs  of  the  people.  Infidelity  was  rife 
everywhere.  The  ministers  were  alarmed  lest  the 
friends  of  the  French  Revolution  should  propagate 
these  opinions,  and  in  arraying  themselves  against 
these  they  also  stood  opposed  to  the  Jacobinical  soci- 
eties and  other  democratic  orders  which  waged  a  war 
against  the  Federalists.  So  it  is  in  a  measure  true 
that  the  New  England  ministers  were  seduced  into 
political  discussions.  The  political  parties  grew  up 
around  them,  and  they  were  found  partisans  from  the 
circumstances  of  the  time.  Nor  can  it  be  supposed 
that  these  sermons  were  fruitless  of  good.  They 
were  in  a  sense  political  documents,  were  printed 
and  reprinted  as  such.  Everybody  read  them;  and 
with  the  politics  the  readers  imbibed  much  sound 
sense  and  many  arguments  against  French  infidelity. 


364         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

Surely  they  had  the  virtue  of  declaring  positive  opin- 
ions, and  they  did  not  attempt  to  preserve  a  judicious 
neutrality.  On  the  other  hand  the  opposite  party 
were  greatly  incensed  against  the  ministers,  and  on 
the  whole  the  results  were  injurious  to  the  churches. 

A  few  months  after  the  inauguration  of  President 
Washington  he  appointed,  at  the  request  of  Con- 
gress, a  national  thanksgiving  day  on  account  of  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution.  It  was  November  26, 
1789.  Tliis  must  be  very  evident,  that  the  anti- 
Federalists  would  not  heartily  enjoy  such  a  day.  It 
seemed  like  asking  them  to  rejoice  over  their  own 
defeat,  and  was  very  suggestive  of  the  party  rooster. 
This  was  the  introduction  of  the  political  issue.  The 
day  was  observed  generally  in  New  England,  taking 
the  place  of  the  usual  autumn  thanksgiving,  though 
some  States  issued  another  proclamation  omitting  the 
particular  reference  to  the  Constitution. 

As  years  passed,  and  the  opposition  to  the  policy  of 
the  government  increased,  the  Democratic  party  of 
that  day  came  into  existence  with  its  popular  enthu- 
siasm in  behalf  of  France  and  her  societies  for  the 
furtherance  of  political  designs.  Then  the  ministers 
of  Massachusetts  were  almost  unanimous  in  support 
of  the  government.  The  patriot,  Samuel  Adams,  who 
became  governor  in  1793  upon  the  death  of  John 
Hancock,  was  an  ardent  Democrat.  When  the  season 
came  round  in  1794  for  the  annual  thanksgiving,  the 
governor,  for  some  reason,  omitted  from  the  procla- 
mation all  mention  of  the  federal  government.  This 
was  a  challenge  to  the  divines  who  were  Federalists, 
and  they  were  not  slow  in  making  the  most  of  the 
omission.     The  20th  of  November  was  therefore  an 


POLITICAL  FAST  IN  MASSACHUSETTS.     365 

occasion  for  much  preaching  of  politics  in  that  com- 
monwealth. Foremost  of  all  was  David  Osgood,  of 
Medford.  The  title  of  his  sermon  on  that  day  was 
innocent  enough,  —  "  The  Wonderful  Works  of  God 
are  to  be  remembered."  But  in  it  he  purposely  took 
up  the  several  causes  named  in  the  proclamation,  mitil 
he  came  to  that  phrase  so  historical  and  significant 
to  the  New  Englander,  "civil  rights  and  Uberties." 
Here  he  spoke  as  follows :  "  For  .  .  .  our  civil  rights 
and  liberties,  we  are,  under  Providence,  and  as  the 
mean  by  which  Heaven  has  granted  and  continues 
them  to  us,  indebted  to  a  cause  or  source  which,  I  am 
sorry  to  observe,  is  not  mentioned,  nor  even  referred 
to  in  the  proclamation  —  I  mean  the  general  or  federal 
government.  This  omission  is  strange  and  singular, 
beyond  anything  of  the  kind  that  I  recollect  to  have 
seen  since  the  first  union  of  the  states  in  the  memora- 
ble year  1775.  It  has,  to  say  the  least,  a  strong  ap- 
pearance of  disconnection  with  the  general  government, 
and  an  air  of  separate  sovereignty  and  independence, 
as  though  we  enjoyed  not  our  civil  rights  in  union 
with  the  other  states  under  one  common  Head."  He 
continued  with  a  eulogy  of  the  federal  government, 
and  a  denunciation  of  the  "Democratic  societies." 
In  connection  with  the  latter  he  thus  refers  to  the 
governor:  "Unless  we  suppose  him  to  have  fallen 
under  the  baneful  influence  of  those  societies,  we 
know  not  how  to  account  for  his  having  hazarded  a 
proclamation  in  which  we  are  directed,  neither  to  give 
thanks  for  any  advantages  enjoyed  by  means  of  that 
government,  nor  even  to  ask  the  blessing  of  Heaven 
upon  it."  In  a  note  to  this  sentence  he  says,  "  This 
must  appear  the  more  extraordinary  when  we  reflect, 


866         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

that  at  the  time  of  Issueing  the  proclamation,  war  with 
the  savages  raged  on  our  frontiers,  rebellion  in  the 
bosom  of  the  country,  and  our  situation,  with  respect 
to  the  powers  of  Europe,  had  become  so  critical  that 
we  were  actually  fortifying  and  forming  a  numerous 
army."  ^  Other  sermons  of  that  day  made  allusions 
to  these  events,  especially  to  the  so-caUed  "  Whiskey 
Insurrection  "  of  western  Pennsylvania,  which  was  a 
resistance  of  the  authority  of  the  federal  government ; 
and  they  did  not  hesitate  to  speak  of  it,  as  did  Samuel 
Stillman,  of  Boston,  as  "  displaying  the  energy  of  gov- 
ernment and  the  excellency  of  the  executive  in  the 
methods  that  have  been  taken  first  to  conciliate,  and  in 
case  of  failure,  to  subdue  the  insurgents."  2  But  we 
shall  let  in  the  light  by  quoting  from  a  letter  from 
Eev.  Jedidiah  Morse,  of  Charlestown,  to  Hon.  Oliver 
Wolcott,  comptroller  of  the  United  States  Treasury .^ 

Chablestown,  December  17,  1794. 
My  dear  Sir,  —  I  take  the  liberty  to  enclose  you 
Mr.  Osgoods  Thanksgiving  sermon,  with  whh  I 
think  you  wiU  be  pleased.  It  will  evince  that  the 
sentiments  of  the  clergy  this  way  (for  so  far  as  I  am 
acquainted  he  (Mr.  Osgood)  speaks  the  sentiments 
of  nine  out  of  ten  of  the  clergy)  agree  with  those  of 
the  President,  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives, 
in  respect  to  the  ^'self-created  Societies,'^  The 
thanksgiving  sermons  in  Boston  &  its  vicinity  (with 
only  two  or  three  exceptions,)  all  breathed  the  same 
spirit,  —  though  their  manner  was  not  so  particular  & 
pointed  as  Mr.  Osgoods.     His  sermon  is  now  the  gen- 

^  The  Wonderful  Works  of  God,  etc.,  Osgood,  pp.  16,  25. 
2  Thoughts  on  the  French  Revolution,  Stillman,  p.  25. 
^  Wolcott  Papers^  viii.  9,  Conn.  Hist.  See. 


POLITICAL  FAST  IN  MASSACHUSETTS.    367 

erat  topic  of  conversation ;  it  has  grievously  offended 
the  Jacobins.  Poor  fellows  I  they  seem  to  be  at- 
tacked on  all  sides.  They  must  I  think  feel  it  to 
be  a  truth,  that  "there  is  no  peace  to  the  wicked." 
They  still  make  a  noise,  but  it  is  like  the  groans  of 
despair. 

I  could  wish,  if  you  think  it  proper,  that  the  ser- 
mon might,  in  a  suitable  way,  be  put  into  the  hands 
of  our  most  worthy  President  with  this  remark  accom- 
panying it,  that  the  clergy  in  this  Commonwealth, 
generally  approve  of  the  same  sentiments.  I  wish 
it  because  it  may  possibly  add  to  his  satisfaction,  & 
will  certainly  to  our  honor  in  his  view. 

To  render  some  parts  of  the  sermon  intelligible  it 
may  be  necessary  to  observe  that  our  Governor  is  not 
considered  as  very  warmly  attached  either  to  our 
Federal  Gov*  or  to  the  President.  And  as  if  to 
prove  to  the  world  that  this  was  actually  the  case  he 
omitted,  contrary  to  all  former  custom  the  mention 
of  both  in  the  Proclamation.  ...  I  am  with  great 
sincerity  &  esteem. 

Your  friend, 

Jed=  Morse. 

To  Oliver  Wolcott,  Comptroller  of  the  U.  S.  Treasy. 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  sermon  by  David  Osgood  made  a  great  sensa- 
tion in  Massachusetts.  It  was  at  once  printed,  and 
several  times  reprinted.  No  former  thanksgiving  ser- 
mon had  such  a  circulation.  It  was  a  theme  for  com- 
ment among  the  newspapers  far  and  near.  Of  course 
the  reverend  author  came  under  fire,  and  he  found 
himself  the  most  celebrated  minister  in  the  State. 
The  Federalists  praised  him,  and  the  Democrats  visited 


368         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

upon  him  all  the  epithets  they  could  command.^ 
"  The  Boston  Independent  Chronicle  "  printed  several 
communications  on  the  subject,  prominently  those  of 
"A  Friend  to  the  Clergy  and  an  Enemy  to  Ecclesi- 
astical Presumption,"  "  Fair  Play  a  Jewell,"  and  "  A 
Friend  to  Decency  and  Free  Inquiry." ^  "Parson 
Osgood "  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  himself  immor- 
talized in  such  poetic  lines  as  these :  — 

"  Osgood  stand  forth,  I  dare  thee  to  be  tried. 
In  that  Great  Court  where  conscience  must  preside." 

And  the  parson  did  stand  forth,  very  greatly  to  the 
trial  of  his  enemies,  as  the  sequel  shows.  A  reply  to 
his  sermon  was  shortly  printed,  and  though  it  was 
anonymous,  the  author  was  none  other  than  Hon. 
James  SuUivan,  afterwards  governor  of  Massachusetts. 
The  title  was,  ''  The  Altar  of  Baal  thrown  down  ;  or 
the  French  Nation  defended,  against  the  Pulpit  Slan- 
der of  David  Osgood  A.  M.  Pastor  of  the  Church  in 
Medford.  A  Sermon  Par  citoyen  de  Novion."  In 
this  the  author  defends  the  governor  against  the  charge 
of  omitting  the  federal  government  from  his  procla- 
mation, closing  with  such  withering  counsel  as  this : 
"  I  now  leave  you  Sir,  with  only  advising  you  never 
again  to  step  out  of  your  line  to  gratify  a  party,"  — 
advice  which  the  "  Parson  "  was  careful  to  disregard 
on  the  first  opportunity. 

The  other  ministers  who  preached  political  sermons 

^  "  Mr.  Osgood  has  already  experienced  some  small  reward  for  his 
late  sermon,  as  he  has  boasted  with  his  usual  bluntness,  that  he  has 
received  a  large  cheese  from  a  friend,  as  a  token  of  his  approbation. 
We  have  heard  of  the  '  tythe  pig,'  but  never  before  of  a  tythe  cheese  !  " 
—  Boston  Ind.  Chron.j  December  29,  1794. 

2  Boston  Ind.  Chron.,  December  22,  25,  and  29,  1794;  January  8, 
1795. 


POLITICAL  FAST  IN  MASSACHUSETTS.     369 

that  day  were  not  spared,  though  they  had  been  less 
pronounced  in  their  utterances.  One  of  these  was  an 
Episcopalian.  The  "  Boston  Independent  Chronicle  " 
of  November  24, 1794,  records  the  preaching  on  Thurs- 
day last  of  a  sermon  against  Democratic  societies  by 
"  a  certain  Episcopalian  '  thumper  of  the  pulpit 
drum,'  "  and  gives  sufficient  account  of  his  words  to 
show  that  they  were  very  decidedly  political  and  in 
support  of  the  government.  A  later  issue  has  some- 
thing more  to  say  on  "  The  Episcopalian  Canon  or 
the  Trinity  Church  Trumpeter,"  and  speaks  of  him  as 
a  young  man.  This  could  have  been  none  other  than 
the  Assistant  of  Trinity  Church,  Rev.  John  S.  J. 
Gardiner,  who  afterwards  delivered  several  strongly 
political  sermons,  of  which  practice  he  was  an  advocate. 
His  sermon  November  20,  1794,  was  not  printed,  and 
all  we  know  of  it  is  from  the  above  report.  The  se- 
quel follows.  In  1796  the  Diocesan  Convention  of 
the  Episcopal  Church  in  Massachusetts,  following  the 
example  of  Bishop  Samuel  Seabury,  of  Connecticut, 
already  detailed,  petitioned  the  governor,  —  this  same 
Samuel  Adams,  —  asking  him  not  to  appoint  the 
annual  fast  day  so  that  it  would  faU  during  Easter 
week,  in  order  that  it  may  not  "  wound  the  feelings 
of  so  many  of  the  citizens  of  this  Commonwealth  as 
compose  the  body  of  the  Protestant  Episcopalians."  ^ 
This  "  Memorial "  came  before  the  governor  and 
council  on  the  27th  of  January,  1797,  whereupon  they 
"Advised  that  this  Memorial  be  put  on  file,  and 
that  the  Secretary  be  directed  to  lay  the  same  before 

1  The  committee  were  appointed  May  24,  1796,  and  consisted  of 
Drs.  Walter  and  Parker,  and  Perez  Morton,  Esq.  They  reported 
May  30,  1797.  The  Memorial  is  printed  in  Journals  of  the  Conven- 
tions, etc.,  pp.  61, 62. 


370         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

the  Council  when  they  have  under  consideration  the 
appointment  of  the  annual  fasts  in  order  that  the 
wishes  of  the  Episcopal  Gentlemen  may  be  complied 
with."  If  it  was  hoped  that  Massachusetts  would 
follow  the  example  of  Connecticut  and  appoint  the 
annual  fast  on  Good  Friday,  it  was  a  disappointment, 
though  in  this  instance  the  request  was  complied  with, 
by  the  setting  of  the  fast  that  year  in  May.  Such  a 
course  would  have  been  strongly  condemned  in  Mas- 
sachusetts at  that  time. 

By  the  1st  of  January,  1795,  the  prospect  of  a 
foreign  war  had  greatly  decreased,  and  therefore 
Washington  issued  on  that  day  his  proclamation  for 
a  national  thanksgiving  the  19th  of  February.  Natu- 
rally, his  mention  of  the  causes  gave  offense  to  the 
Democrats.  Again  there  was  a  general  discharge  of 
clerical  artillery.  No  less  than  thirty-three  sermons 
preached  on  that  day  were  printed,  and  more  than 
two  thirds  of  these  were  by  the  ministers  of  Massachu- 
setts. Most  of  them  were  printed  at  the  request  of 
their  respective  congregations;  some  by  vote  of  the 
town.  Such  as  deal  particularly  with  poKtics  present 
a  formidable  array  of  considerations  in  support  of  the 
federal  government.  There  is  one  notable  excep- 
tion, —  the  sermon  of  Ebenezer  Bradford,  minister  of 
the  First  Church  in  Rowley.  He  was  a  Democrat, 
and  upon  that  occasion  expressed  himself  without 
concealment.  David  Tappan,  of  Harvard  College, 
preached  at  Charlestown  in  the  afternoon,  and  his 
discourse,  with  that  of  the  pastor,  Jedidiah  Morse,  in 
the  morning,  must  have  made  the  day  a  Federalist 
celebration.  Before  the  former's  sermon  was  printed, 
that  of  Ebenezer  Bradford  had  appeared,  which  gave 


POLITICAL  FAST  IN  MASSACHUSETTS.     371 

an  opportunity  to  answer  him,  which  was  done  in  an 
appendix  to  Tappan's  sermon.  The  Democratic  min- 
ister spoke  in  commendatory  terms  of  the  Democratic 
societies ;  these  the  Federalists  condemned,  at  the  same 
time  lauding  the  successes  of  the  government  in  sup- 
pressing the  "Whiskey  Insurrection,"  averting  war, 
and  conquering  the  Indians.  Among  the  rest  David 
Osgood  was  again  heard  from,  in  the  same  strain  as 
on  the  former  occasion.  This  made  him  the  champion 
of  the  Federalists  and  Bradford  of  the  Democrats. 
A  newspaper  paragraph  runs  as  follows  :  "  When 
the  pitiful,  short-lived  fame  of  the  monk  of  Medford 
is  forgotten,  when  his  puny  attempt  at  abuse  and  de- 
nunciation is  buried  in  merited  oblivion,  the  laurels 
of  a  Bradford  shall  bloom  with  increasing  glory,  and 
that  assertion  of  the  rights  of  the  people  be  remembered 
with  gratitude  by  millions  of  Freemen."  ^  Alas !  the 
fact  of  history  is  that  both  divines  are  pretty  much 
forgotten,  and  their  sermons  have  fed  the  paper-mill 
to  such  an  extent  that  they  are  rarely  met  with  by  the 
collector. 

We  quote  again  from  the  manuscript  correspond- 
ence of  Rev.  Jedidiah  Morse.^ 

Charlestown,  March  18,  1795. 
Dear  Sir,  — ...  I  am  greatly  pleased  with  D'. 
Smith's  Sermon.^     I  am  sorry  it    is  published  with 
the  privilege  of  copyright.     It  w'd  otherwise  be  pub- 
lished here  &  have,  I  doubt  not,  an  extensive  circula- 

1  Bos.  Ind.  Chron.,  March  2,  1795.  ^   Wolcott  Papers,  viii. 

'  This  refers  to  Dr.  Smith's  sermon  of  February  19,  1795,  and  not 
to  a  fast  sermon  of  January  6,  a  day  set  by  the  Synod  of  New  York 
and  New  Jersey  before  the  President  appointed  the  thanksgiving. 
The  latter  was  not  copyrighted. 


372        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

tion,  &  do  mucli  good.  Won't  the  Printer  who  has 
secured  the  right  permit  an  Edition  to  be  printed 
here  ?  Mr.  Osgood's  Second  Sermon  you  have  proba- 
bly seen.  I  suppose  it  will  be  reprinted  with  you,  or 
w'd  send  you  one.  I  enclose  you  for  your  candid  ac- 
ceptance a  copy  of  my  sermon,  &  also  one  of  D^  Tap- 
pan's  and  one  of  J)^  Barnard's.  The  National  Thanks- 
giving has  done  a  vast  deal  of  good  in  sl  2^olitical  vieio 
this  way.  All  the  sermons  whh  have  been  published 
(&  they  are  numerous)  have,  as  far  as  I  have  heard, 
spoke  the  language  of  Federalism  except  Mr.  Brad- 
ford's of  whh  you  may  learn  the  character  in  D^ 
Tappan's  appendix  to  his  discourse.  .  .  . 

Jed^  Morse. 

To  Hon.  Oliver  Wolcott. 

In  a  few  weeks  the  annual  fast  day  came,  April  2, 
and  then  it  was  Bradford's  turn  to  reply  to  Tappan  in 
an  appendix. 

At  this  time  also,  and  in  consequence  of  the 
national  thanksgiving,  a  similar  discussion  was  going 
on  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  The  sermons  of 
Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  delivered  in  the  Quaker  city, 
had  a  wide  popularity  and  a  great  sale,  and  those  of 
Bishop  William  White  and  Ashbel  Green  were  enthu- 
siastically received.  In  New  York  Osgood's  sermons 
were  widely  distributed,  and  only  surpassed  by  one 
delivered  by  John  M^Knight,  one  of  the  ministers  of 
the  United  Presbyterian  Church,  who  was  a  Demo- 
crat of  most  decided  convictions.  So  the  people 
everywhere  were  reading  the  political  tracts  of  the 
clergy.  Encouraged  by  this  patronage,  and  not  a 
little  profited  also,  they  kept  at  it.  On  the  autumn 
thanksgiving  David  Osgood  delivered  the  third  part  of 


POLITICAL  FAST  IN  MASSACHUSETTS.    373 

his  treatise,  of  which  Jedidiah  Morse  wrote,  "  It  is  the 
same  tune  in  a  higher  key,"  but  which  the  Democrats 
attacked  with  animosity. 

In  the  year  1796  another  disturbing  question  was 
settled,  —  the  treaty  with  England  was  sustained. 
This  determined  the  character  of  the  thanksgiving  cel- 
ebration in  the  autumn.  Again  many  sermons  were 
preached,  and  some  were  printed.  Referring  to  the 
occasion,  Rev.  Jedidiah  Morse  wrote  under  date  De- 
cember 23,  "  Very  few  of  y®  clergy  in  the  circle  of  my 
acquaintance  seem  disposed  to  pray  for  the  success  of 
the  French  since  they  have  so  insidiously  &  wickedly 
interfered  in  the  management  of  our  political  affairs, 
&  I  apprehend  the  complexion  of  the  thanksgiving 
sermons  throughout  N.  Eng^  this  year  is  very  differ- 
ent from  those  of  the  last  in  respect  to  this  particular. 
I  can  speak  for  more  than  one  with  certainty."  ^  For 
a  time,  however,  the  excitement  subsided.  Rev.  Eben- 
ezer  Bradford  was  in  a  measure  ostracized  among  the 
ministers,  very  much  to  their  shame.  His  neighbor, 
Rev.  Levi  Frisbie,  of  Ipswich,  \\Tites  to  his  friend 
Rev.  David  MacClure,  of  East  Windsor,  Conn. :  "  Our 
Jacobinical  Brother  Bradford  has  indeed  preached  and 
written  himself  almost  entirely  out  of  credit.  He  was 
not  indeed  expelled  the  association,  but  he  was  so 
roughly  dealt  with  that  he  has  not  attended  its  meet- 
ings this  long  time."  ^  To  such  a  pass  had  these  politi- 
cal sermons  brought  the  fast  and  thanksgiving  days, 
that  the  people  looked  to  them  for  their  sensations. 

In  the  spring  of  1798  it  was  supposed  that  the  coun- 
try was  on  the  eve  of  a  war  with  France.  This  led 
President  Adams,  on  the  23d  of  March,  to  recommend 

^   Wolcott  Papers,  viii.  ^  MS.  Letter,  Conn.  Hist.  Soc. 


874         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

a  general  fast  in  all  the  States  on  the  9  th  of  May. 
Many  said  it  had  a  political  intent,  though  it  was 
generally  observed ;  ^  and  the  printed  sermons  show 
how  widely  distributed  the  interest  was,  both  as  to 
States  and  religious  denominations.  The  President 
said  the  country  was  placed  "in  a  hazardous  and 
afflictive  situation,  by  the  unfriendly  disposition,  con- 
duct and  demands  of  a  foreign  power,  evinced  by 
repeated  refusals  to  receive  our  messengers  of  recon- 
ciliation and  peace,  by  depredations  on  our  com- 
merce and  the  infliction  of  injuries  on  very  many  of 
our  fellow  citizens."  This  was  true,  but  it  was  not 
an  acceptable  sentiment  to  some.  The  character  of 
Dr.  Osgood's  discourse  on  that  day  is  briefly  stated  in 
its  title,  "  Some  facts  evincive  of  the  atheistical,  an- 
archical, and,  in  some  respects,  immoral  principles  of 
the  French  Revolution."  This  was  the  tone  of  other 
sermons.  Shortly  before  this,  Robinson's  "  Proofs  of 
a  Conspiracy  against  the  Christian  Religion "  had 
reached  America.  It  contained  somewhat  sensational 
disclosures  of  the  character  and  work  of  the  Illu- 
minati,  a  secret  atheistical  society  in  France.  A  copy 
had  come  into  the  hands  of  Rev.  Jedidiah  Morse,  who 
took  the  fast  day  for  denouncing  the  pernicious  influ- 
ence of  such  irreligious  bodies,  which,  he  claimed,  had 
maintained  branches  in  America  for  years.  In  an 
appendix  to  his  thanksgiving  sermon  of  November  29, 

1798,  and  in  the  notes  to  his  fast  sermon  of  April  25, 

1799,  he  continued  his  discussion  of  this  subject.  But 
from  his  first  utterance  the  ministers  took  the  alarm. 
A  voice  was  raised  everywhere  against  French  infidel- 

^  Connecticut  observed  May  16,  instead  of  the  9th,  because  the  lat- 
ter was  election  day.  —  Eobbins^s  Diary,  i.  56. 


POLITICAL  FAST  IN  MASSACHUSETTS,    375 

ity,  which  was  supposed  to  be  propagated  by  the  lUu- 
minati.  The  Masonic  orders  were  greatly  disturbed, 
and  the  feeling  against  these  Federalist  preachers  was 
augmented  among  the  Democrats,  who  resented  the 
imputation  that  was  put  upon  them.  The  newspapers 
arrayed  themselves  on  both  sides.  A  Federalist  organ 
said  of  the  thanksgiving  sermons,  "  We  wish  it  were  in 
our  power  to  do  justice  to  the  performances  (amongst 
many  others)  of  a  Tappan,  an  Eckley,  a  Lathrop,  a 
Thacher,  a  Earkland,  a  Baldwin  and  a  Kendall.  Public 
opinion  has  passed  their  eulogy."  ^  A  Democratic 
organ  replied :  "  Our  clergy  would  serve  the  cause  of 
religion  at  this  day  of  deism  more  effectually  by  vin- 
dicating the  truths  of  the  gospel  than  the  measures 
of  government."  ^  From  this  time  criticism  upon  the 
course  of  the  ministers  increased.  Though  many,  like 
Dr.  Morse,  of  Charlestown,  carried  their  congregations 
with  them,  some  were  not  so  fortimate.  Many  worthy 
parisliioners  deserted  the  churches. 

When  the  spring  of  1799  came,  the  President  again 
set  a  national  fast,  the  25th  of  April.  In  the  pro- 
clamation was  this  paragraph:  "The  most  precious 
interests  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  still 
held  in  jeopardy,  by  the  hostile  designs  and  insidious 
arts  of  a  foreign  nation,  as  well  as  by  the  dissemina- 
tion among  them  of  those  principles  subversive  of  the 
foundations  of  all  religious,  moral  and  social  obliga- 
tions, that  have  produced  incalculable  mischief  and 
misery  in  other  countries."  This  was  a  pointed  arrow 
in  the  quiver  of  every  political  preacher.  There  were 
then  in  circulation  multitudes  of  infidel  tracts,  the 

1  Columbian  Centinel,  December  1,  1798. 

2  Boston  Ind.  Chron,,  December  3,  1798. 


376         FAST  A ND   THANKSGI VI NG  ' DA  YS, 

most  prominent  by  Thomas  Paine.  It  seemed  to  the 
ministers  that  the  very  foundations  were  in  danger. 
So  when  the  President  put  them  in  the  way  of  it,  they 
were  aroused  to  do  their  utmost  against  irreligion. 
Had  this  been  without  political  affiliations,  only  good 
could  have  come  from  it,  but  the  truth  was  quite  other- 
wise. It  was  a  political  goad  in  their  hands.  On  the 
15th  of  April  the  Boston  Association  of  Ministers  is- 
sued a  circular  to  their  brethren,  in  which  they  com- 
mended the  President's  proclamation,  and  besought 
the  churches  to  seek  the  reformation  of  evils  and  exert 
themselves  against  the  progress  of  irreligion.^  Of 
course  it  was  a  day  of  very  earnest  observance,  and 
many  printed  sermons.  David  Osgood,  who  somehow 
had  by  this  time  been  promoted  from  being  the 
"Monk  of  Medford"  to  be  the  "Bishop  of  Mystic," 
was  heard  from  as  usual,  and  under  a  very  unusual 
title,  "  The  Devil  let  loose,  or  the  wo  occasioned  by  his 
wrathful  appearance,"  in  which  he  intimated  that  the 
royal  residence  of  that  personage  was  at  that  time  in 
France.  His  sermon  was  published  anonymously. 
Jedidiah  Morse,  who  had  been  challenged  everywhere 
for  his  proofs  as  to  the  Illuminati  in  America,  put  out, 
in  extended  notes  to  his  sermon,  such  as  had  been 
some  time  in  his  hands.  Upon  further  investigation 
these  did  not  turn  out  as  had  been  expected.  They 
were  everywhere  ridiculed.  A  reaction  set  in  against 
him.  Anonymous  and  threatening  letters  were  sent 
to  him  through  the  mails,  which  were  illustrated  with 
pen  and  ink  hieroglyphics,  and  ornamented  with  dag- 

^  Wolcott  Papers,  viii.  25.  —  A  copy  of  this  circular.  It  grew  into 
an  address  of  the  Convention  of  Ministers  of  Massachusetts,  which 
was  sent  even  to  New  York  and  Philadelphia. 


POLITICAL  FAST  IN  MASSACHUSETTS.    377 

gers  and  coffins.  These  at  least  troubled  his  peace. 
He  was  made  to  feel  that  he  had  trampled  upon  the 
sacred  secrets  of  a  Masonic  society  who  would  have 
"  blood  for  blood,"  as  they  comfortingly  informed 
him.i  He  did  very  boldly  set  at  defiance  their  threats, 
but  probably  in  the  quiet  of  his  study  at  Charlestown 
he  meditated  whether  he  had  been  making  the  best 
use  of  the  fast  and  thanksgiving  days  after  all.  At ' 
all  events  that  was  the  general  reflection  as  the  reac- 
tion increased.  Abraham  Bishop,  of  rare  fame  at  the 
time,  regaled  his  hearers  thus  as  to  the  matter  :  "How 
much,  think  you,  has  religion  been  benefited  by  ser- 
mons, intended  to  show  that  Satan  and  Cain  were 
Jacobins  ?  How  much  by  sermons  in  which  every 
deistical  argument  has  been  presented  with  its  great- 
est force  as  being  a  part  of  the  Republican  creed  ?  Is 
this,  men  of  God,  following  the  precept,  'Feed  my 
sheep,  feed  my  lambs '  ?  "  2  This  is  what  the  people 
began  to  think  as  the  excitement  passed  over.  To  be 
sure,  the  clergy  had  their  view  of  the  case,  but  when 
they  came  to  turn  once  more  to  their  particular  par- 
ishes, it  was  somewhat  modified.  Many  of  the  anti- 
Federalists  had  forsaken  the  church,  and  absented 
themselves  from  the  services  of  the  Sabbath  which 
their  fathers  had  attended  so  assiduously.  These  were 
made  a  harvest  for  infidelity.     Indeed,  the  agitations 

^  The  Wolcott  Papers  show  that  Dr.  Morse  derived  his  original  in- 
formation from  Hon.  Oliver  Wolcott.  Some  of  these  anonymous 
warnings  are  therein  preserved,  and  further  information  on  the  sub- 
ject. 

2  Connecticut  Republicanism^  Bishop,  pp.  20,  39,  40.  See,  also, 
Oration  at  Wallingford,  Conn.,  March  11,  1801,  Bishop,  p.  46  ;  Works 
of  Peter  Porcupine,  x.  230.  Cobbett  approved  of  Dr.  Morse's  course 
and  copied  the  appendix  to  his  sermon.  The  newspaper  comments 
pro  and  con  are  very  numerous. 


378         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

of  this  decade  in  the  churches  of  New  England  did 
much  to  dethrone  the  royal  influence  of  the  one 
church,  which  in  many  towns  had  hitherto  united  the 
people  in  their  worship.  The  religious  influence  of 
the  minister  was  greatly  lessened  in  the  end.  He  had 
pleased  some  of  his  own  opinion  for  the  time,  but  he 
had  lost  something  of  his  preeminence  and  authority 
as  the  spiritual  patriarch  of  the  community. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE   PROCLAMATIONS   OF   POLITICAL   PARTIES. 
1811-1815. 

The  political  agitation  of  the  closing  years  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  which  had  connected  itself  with 
fast  and  thanksgiving  days,  destroyed  the  immediate 
prospect  of  a  national  adoption  of  the  institution. 
New  England  was  left  to  observe  the  regular  an- 
nual appointments  in  the  several  States.  Of  the  two 
States  which  had  cherished  such  days  from  the  earliest 
times,  Massachusetts,  far  more  than  Connecticut,  was 
instrumental  in  bringing  about  this  uniformity.  As 
to  the  district  of  Maine,  it  was  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  Massachusetts,  into  which  it  had  come  in  1686,  to 
which  it  was  confirmed  by  the  provincial  charter  in 
1692,  and  of  which  it  continued  a  part  after  Massa- 
chusetts became  a  State,  imtil  its  admission  to  the 
Union  in  1820.  From  its  first  occupation,  therefore, 
down  to  that  time,  its  days  were  those  of  Massachu- 
setts, —  whose'  proclamations  were  sent  thither,  —  ex- 
cept as  the  churches  set  such  other  occasions  as  local 
causes  might  suggest.^  As  to  New  Hampshire,  its 
scattered  settlements  were  under  Massachusetts  juris- 
diction from  1643  down  to  1679-80,  when  it  was 
created  a  royal  province.     During  this  period  its  dis- 

1  See  Extracts  from  the  Journals  of  Rev.  Thomas  Smith,  Fal- 
mouth, Me. 


380        FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

tant  towns  kept  such  days  as  they  chanced  to  hear  of, 
or  followed  the  will  of  the  churches.  Before  the  first 
session  of  its  General  Assembly,  March  16,  1679-80, 
a  fast  day  was  appointed  for  February  26,  and,  as 
they  began  the  year  with  fasting,  they  closed  it  with  a 
thanksgiving,  January  13,168  0-1 .  The  proclamations 
for  both  these  days  are  in  print.^  From  that  time  on, 
except  during  the  unsettled  period  from  1686  to  1692, 
when  it  returned  to  the  fortunes  of  Massachusetts, 
there  was  an  independent  method  of  appointments  in 
use,  though  under  the  provincial  governors,  as  appears 
in  the  Calendar,  the  orders  sometimes  issued  from  the 
governor  and  sometimes  from  the  lieutenant-governor 
by  advice  of  the  council.  Therefore  both  the  days  and 
the  causes  were  many  times  the  same  as  in  Massachu- 
setts. As  to  Rhode  Island,  the  custom  was  first  forced 
upon  them  during  the  administration  of  Governor 
Edmund  Andros.  Then  it  was  entirely  dropped  until 
the  time  of  the  French  wars,  unless  now  and  then  by 
church  appointment.*^  In  1756  the  20th  of  May  was  a 
public  fast,  and  thereafter  several  public  thanksgivings 
were  observed,  presumably  because  of  royal  a*  thority 
or  example.  This  practice  was  again  taken  up  during 
the  American  Revolution,  and  the  days  set  by  the 
Continental  Congress  brought  the  State  into  harmony 
with  the  rest  of  New  England.  After  the  Revolution 
the  fast  and  the  thanksgiving  parted  company,  the 
former  being  observed  only  on  occasion,  as  ordered  by 
the  state  or  the  national  government,  the  latter  be- 
coming an  annual  institution  with  the  national  thanks- 

1  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Proc,  xvi.  265,  266,  278,  279 ;  N.  H.  Col.  Bee, 
xix.  660,  661,  674,  675. 

2  Rec.  Pres.  Chh.,  Westerly,  R.  I.,  in  N.  E.  Beg.,  xxvi.  383  £P,: 
Sermon,  August  27,  1755. 


PROCLAMATIONS  OF  POLITICAL  PARTIES.   381 

giving  of  1789.^  Rhode  Island,  therefore,  has  never 
adopted  the  annual  fast  day.  As  to  Vermont,  the 
State  came  naturally  into  the  common  practice  during 
the  American  Revolution,  the  first  proclamation  issued 
being  for  the  fast  day  June  18,  1777.^ 

Thus  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  all 
the  New  England  States,  except  Rhode  Island,  were 
keeping  annual  spring  fasts,  and  these  were  in  the 
month  of  April,  unless  the  Good  Friday  fast  of  Con- 
necticut chanced  to  fall  in  March.  Thursday  was 
the  day  in  Massachusetts  ^  and  New  Hampshire,  and 
Wednesday  in  Vermont.  The  annual  autumn  thanks- 
giving had  become  an  established  institution  with  all, 
being  usually  a  Thursday  in  November,  though  occa- 
sionally put  off  to  the  first  Thursday  in  December. 
After  the  national  fast  of  April  25,  1799,  there 
were  no  national  days  until  those  connected  with  the 
war  of  1812,  nor  any  special  days  in  the  New  Eng- 
land States.  Rehgious  bodies  sometimes  appointed 
them,  as  in  the  case  of  September  8,  1808,  set  by  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  churches,  and 
partioiilar  churches  and  towns  did  the  same,  though 
less  frequently  than  formerly.  Upon  one  occasion,  at 
least,  February  16,  1809,  the  legislature  of  Massa- 

^  In  1845  the  authority  for  making  these  appointments,  which  had 
been  exercised  by  the  General  Assembly,  was  committed  to  the  gov- 
ernor. 

2  Bee.  Gov.  and  Coun.  Vt.,  i.  59 ;  Hist.  Mag.,  2d  ser.  iii.  110 ;  Vt, 
Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  i.  55  ;  MS.  Bee.  N.  Y. 

^  Since  1815,  the  limit  of  the  calendar,  the  fast  day  in  Massachusetts 
has  usually  been  the  first  Thursday  in  April.  The  following  are  ex- 
ceptions :  1829,  April  9th;  1830,  8th;  1835,  9th;  1841,  8th;  1847, 
8th;  1849,  12th;  1850,  11th;  1851,  10th;  1852,  8th;  1856,  10th; 
1857,  16th;  1858,  15th;  1865,  13th;  1869,  8th;  1876,  13th;  1877, 
12th  ;  1878,  11th ;  1880,  8th ;  1886,  8th.  These  have  been  mainly  to 
avoid  April  1. 


382         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

chusetts  met  for  humiliation  and  prayer  at  the  meet- 
ing-house in  Brattle  Street,  when  the  services  were 
conducted  by  the  chaplains,  Messrs.  Buckminster  and 
Lowell.^  Other  than  in  such  exceptions  the  practice 
of  earlier  times  had  been  laid  aside  for  the  spring  and 
autunm  days.  The  sermons  which  were  delivered  de- 
clined in  interest,  as  one  may  judge  from  their  titles. 
Sometimes  they  were  political,  but  more  generally 
upon  a  stray  theme  to  which  the  preacher  had  been 
moved,  or  upon  the  religious  aspects  of  himiiliation 
and  thanksgiving.  The  proclamations  also  presented 
a  great  variety  of  considerations,  always  having  a 
relation  to  passing  events,  in  wliich  they  very  greatly 
differ  from  the  formal  and  sapless  orders  of  New 
England  governors  at  the  present  time.  These  gave 
a  life  to  the  services,  quickening  the  thought  of  the 
people  and  enforcing  a  recognition  of  blessings  wliich 
otherwise  might  have  been  unnoticed.  One  prominent 
feature  of  most  all  the  proclamations,  during  the  first 
decade  of  this  century,  was  the  mention  of  foreign 
affairs.  The  fortunes  of  European  nations  were  fol- 
lowed with  interest.  They  mourned  over  the  devas- 
tation of  Napoleon's  armies  and  prayed  for  the  coming 
of  peace.  This  conqueror  was  not  generally  popular 
with  the  ministers.  They  counted  him  a  cruel  tyrant, 
and  occasionally  the  prophets  among  them  would  get 
out  the  book  of  Revelation  and  search  for  the  par- 
ticular vial  of  wrath  which  he  was  pouring  out.  It 
was  generally  thought  that  he  was  waging  a  war  of 
Antichrist  in  behalf  of  the  papal  powers  of  Europe 
or  fallen  Babylon,  whose  emissaries  abroad  were  the 
atheistical  French,  —  a  view  not  at  all  popular  with 
1  Hill's  Hist  of  the  Old  South  Church,  u.  338. 


PROCLAMATIONS  OF  POLITICAL  PARTIES.    383 

such  as  sympathized  with  France.  The  proclama- 
tions would  also  reflect,  upon  occasion,  the  local  inter- 
ests of  each  State,  the  sickness  in  some  towns,  the  fires 
of  more  than  common  destructibility,  and  the  deaths 
of  prominent  persons,  all  of  which  were  appropriate 
and  useful  in  creating  a  mutual  interest  among  the  vari- 
ous sections  of  the  State.  Institutions  of  learning  were 
remembered,  and  sometimes  the  ministers  were  special 
subjects  of  prayer.  One  of  the  first  public  announce- 
ments of  the  formation  of  the  American  Board  of 
Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  was  in  the  pro- 
clamation of  its  first  president,  Governor  John  Tread- 
well,  of  Connecticut,  for  the  thanksgiving  November 
29,  1810,  which  was  issued  the  month  following  the 
first  meeting  of  the  board  at  Farmington,  and  men- 
tions as  cause  for  gratitude  "  institutions  to  send  the 
Gospel  to  newly  peopled  regions  and  to  the  Pagan 
world."  Scarcely  a  proclamation  can  be  found  which 
has  not  a  clause  requiring  the  interpretation  of  his- 
tory. We  have  now  at  hand  an  illustration  of  this, 
in  certain  political  proclamations,  which  one  might 
read  to-day  without  interest,  but  which  then  made  a 
decided  sensation.  The  war  of  1812  did  not  affect 
the  days  like  those  of  earlier  times,  for  its  events  were 
not  of  such  a  critical  character.  But,  unlike  any  be- 
fore, the  issues  divided  the  people,  and  brought  the 
governors  of  the  several  States  into  the  peril  of  ex- 
pressing too  decidedly  their  own  political  opinions.  It 
was  a  war  of  proclamations,  in  which  the  ministers 
bore  a  particular  part. 

In  the  year  1811  the  political  caldron,  in  which 
party  differences  had  been  simmering  for  some  time, 
began  to  boil  furiously,  and  this  affected  the  fast  and 


384        FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

thanksgiving  day  observances.  The  Federalists  were 
still  strong,  especially  so  in  New  England,  where  they 
included  most  of  the  Congregational  ministers ;  but 
the  Democrats  or  Democratic-Republicans  had  pos- 
session of  the  national  government.  Their  policy  had 
all  along  been  favorable  to  the  French,  and  such 
measures  had  been  adopted  as  had  paralyzed  indus- 
tries, restricted  commerce,  and  spread  abroad  an 
alarm  of  approaching  war.  Hon.  Elbridge  Gerry, 
very  prominent  in  Republican  counsels,  was  the  gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts.  In  due  time  he  issued  the 
proclamation  for  the  fast,  April  11,  1811.  It  looks 
innocent  enough  at  this  distance,  but  read  with  the 
eyes  of  the  Federalist  minister,  it  was  a  provoking  doc- 
ument. Perhaps  others  beside  Dr.  Gardiner,  of  Trin- 
ity Church,  Boston,  read  it  with  a  very  brief  pause 
between  the  words  "  Elbridge  Gerry  Governor  "  and 
"  God  save  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts ! " 
We  quote  the  objectionable  paragraph :  — 

"  And  for  our  unparalleled  ingratitude  to  that  Adorable  Be- 
ing, .  .  .  who  has  protected  us  by  a  federal  and  state  Constitu- 
tion, each  adapted  to  support  the  other.  Who  has  blessed  us 
with  a  wise  and  upright  national  Government,  which,  amidst 
numerous  embarrassments  and  difficulties,  has  promoted  beyond 
reasonable  expectation  our  peace  prosperity  and  happiness  — 
Who  has  indulged  us  with  wise  legislatures,  with  codes  of  mild 
and  equitable  laws,  and  with  learned  judges  to  expound  and  ad- 
minister them —  Who  has  diminished  that  party  spirit,  which, 
generated  by  craft  and  ambition  and  fostered  by  ire  and  folly, 
has  been  destructive  of  social  happiness." 

The  effect  of  this  proclamation  was  to  bring  down 
upon  the  governor  the  severest  criticism,  and  when 
the  day  arrived  the  discussion  of  political  themes  was 
in  order.     Two  sermons  of  those  in  print  attracted 


PROCLAMATIONS  OF  POLITICAL  PARTIES.   385 

fecial  attention.  One  was  by  Solomon  Aiken,  of 
Draeut,  upon  "  The  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Polit- 
ical Dissension  in  the  United  States."  This  was 
Republican,  and  of  course  attributed  the  prevailing 
troubles  to  the  Federalists.  Its  author  was  a  vigor- 
ous disputant,  and  afterwards  issued  an  "  Address  to 
Federal  Clergymen  on  the  Subject  of  the  War." 
One  paragraph  in  the  sermon  called  out  special  criti- 
cism :  "  A  separation  must  and  will  take  place,  things 
will  come  to  a  crisis.  There  is  a  rooted  enmity  be- 
tween modern  Federalism  and  Republicanism.  They 
can  no  more  coalesce  than  the  feet  and  toes  of  the 
Hieroglyphical  Image  of  the  Nations,  wliich  were  a 
part  of  iron  and  a  part  of  Potter's  clay.  A  separ 
ration  must  come,  and  in  the  opinion  of  the  speaker, 
who  pretends  to  no  spirit  of  prophesy,  neither  party 
wiU  die,  'tiU  it  bleeds  to  death."  Some  regarded  this 
as  an  alarming  sentiment,  and  it  was  taken  notice 
of  in  "  An  Address  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Aiken  on  his 
Fast  Sermon,  1811 "  by  "  Clericus,"  wliich  appeared 
in  the  "  Columbian  Centinel,"  April  1,  1812.  The 
other  sermon  was  by  Elijah  Parish,  of  Byfield,  a  vio- 
lent Federalist,  and  of  this  more  particular  notice 
should  be  made.  His  text  sheds  light  upon  the 
course  of  his  thought,  —  "  Babylon  the  great  is  fallen, 
is  fallen,  and  is  become  the  habitation  of  devils,  and 
the  hold  of  every  foul  spirit,  and  a  cage  of  every  un- 
clean and  hateful  bird,"  Rev.  xviii.  2.  After  setting 
forth  his  view  of  Babylon,  and  finding  a  resem- 
blance between  it  and  the  principles  of  the  Repub- 
lican party,  he  takes  up  the  governor's  proclamation, 
and  deals  with  it  thus :  "  In  the  third  section  is  the 
following  sentence,  '  Who  has  blessed  us  with  a  wise 


386         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

and  upright  national  government,  which  amidst  nu- 
merous embarrassments  and  difficulties  has  promoted 
beyond  reasonable  expectations,  our  peace ^  iwosperity^ 
and  happiness,^  This  the  chief  magistrate  doubt- 
less expected  the  clergy  would  read  in  a  serious  man- 
ner to  their  people,  as  a  part  of  their  instruction 
without  comment  or  remark.  I  would  as  soon  have 
administered  poison  in  your  cups.  He  would  be  '  a 
lying  spirit'  in  the  mouths  of  Christian  ministers. 
He  knew  that  very  few  clergymen  in  the  Common- 
wealth believed  a  single  word  of  this  sentence ;  yet 
he  treacherously  intended  they  should  read  it.  He 
doubtless  intended  to  silence  murmurs  by  this  sancti- 
monious declaration,  and  to  gain  influence.  A  more 
fraudulent  sentence  never  came  from  a  scribe  of 
Babylon.  What  have  the  general  government  done 
more  than  could  be  reasonably  expected?  From 
what  burden  have  they  relieved  you?  What  branch 
of  commerce  have  they  protected?  What  husband- 
man or  artisan  owes  them  any  thanks  ?  What  virtue 
have  they  cherished?  What  comfort  have  they  in- 
creased? What  religion  have  they  promoted?  None, 
none,  none.  This  very  year  they  refused  to  incor- 
porate a  Baptist  Society,  as  though  they  were  outlaws, 
and  not  to  be  protected  by  government.  Thus  we 
harmonize  with  spiritual  Babylon,  not  only  in  her 
falsehood  and  fraud,  her  oppression,  and  barbarity, 
and  slavery;  but  in  her  irreligion  and  infidelity. 
.  .  .  But  we  must  not  forget  the  proclamation.  We 
are  called  upon  '  devotedly  to  perform  the  sacred 
duties '  of  the  day  '  for  unparalleled  ingratitude  to 
that  Being,  who  has  indulged  us  with  wise  Legis- 
latures.''    Where  is  a  solitary  instance  of  their  wis- 


PROCLAMATIONS  OF  POLITICAL  PARTIES.  387 

domf  —  'with  codes  of  mild  and  equitable  laws.' 
Are  not  those  of  the  present  administration,  quite  of 
another  sort  ?  — '  who  has  smiled  on  our  navigation 
and  commerce.'  Have  not  our  present  Rulers  bound 
them  in  chains,  bid  them  vanish  from  the  ocean  ?  — 
'  for  rendering  invincible  our  beloved  country.'  Mis- 
erable man,  why  does  he  adopt  this  dialect  of  a  dema- 
gogue? .  .  .  Why  does  he  tell  us  of  sins,  which 
we  have  never  committed,  of  blessings,  long,  long  de- 
parted from  us?  But  we  turn  with  disgust  from 
the  unpleasant  theme.  Other  parts  of  the  pro- 
clamation are  equally  aberrations  from  truth  and 
decency."  ^ 

The  preacher  of  tliis  sermon,  one  of  the  most 
famous  discourses  of  the  time,  fell  into  the  bitter- 
est reproaches  of  his  opponents.  It  was  said  he  had 
called  his  Excellency  a  "liar,"  and  been  guilty  of 
contempt  of  rulers.  So  damaging  was  the  sermon 
thought  to  be  to  the  Federalists,  that  the  Republi- 
cans printed  an  edition  of  it,  from  the  press  of  "  B. 
True,"  with  the  proclamation  appended,  and  a  very 
uncomplimentary  notice  of  the  "astonishing  deprav- 
ity of  a  Man,"  who  had  "  fallen  a  victim  to  Party 
Spirit."  2  We  do  not  know  of  a  sermon  which  so 
severely  arraigned  a  governor  and  his  proclamation. 
But  his  turn  to  reply  was  at  hand,  for  he  was  re- 
elected the  governor  of  the  State.  In  his  message 
to  the  General  Assembly  he  took  pains  to  commend 
the  "general  spirit  of  religious  liberality  and  toler- 
ance" among  the  clergy,  adding  this  paragraph: 
"  Should  any  perchance  wander  into  the  devious  paths 
of  party  politicks  the  injury  wiU  not  extend  beyond 
1  Sermon,  pp.  26-28.  2   See  Bibliography,  No.  489. 


388         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

themselves,  and  they  will  soon  retreat  from  the  la- 
cerations of  briars  and  thorns  which  will  meet  them 
at  every  step."  This  did  not  pass  unnoticed.  It 
was  remarked  by  one,  "  Had  not  the  Governor  been 
lacerated  by  briars,  in  the  hand  of  some  clergyman, 
he  would  not  have  put  this  in."  ^  Without  doubt 
it  was  intended  as  a  thorn  for  Eev.  EKjah  Parish 
and  some  others.  That  same  message  initiated  action 
toward  the  passage  of  an  act  permitting  tax-payers 
to  divert  their  support  from  the  Congregational 
minister  in  the  Massachusetts  towns,  a  movement  in 
which  his  Excellency  must  have  been  particularly 
interested.  When  the  time  for  the  autumn  thanks- 
giving drew  near,  a  further  opportunity  was  afforded 
him  to  retaliate.  Two  paragraphs  in  his  proclama- 
tion were  especially  offensive.  He  spoke  of  the  "  na- 
tional government  and  administration,  whose  wisdom 
virtue  and  firmness  have  not  been  circumvented,  cor- 
rupted or  appalled  by  the  arts,  seductions  or  threats 
of  foreign  or  domestic  foes ; "  and  in  these  words 
acknowledged  the  goodness  of  God  in  giving  them 
ministers,  — "  who  has  favoured  us  with  a  Clergy 
(with  a  few  Exceptions)  whose  conduct  is  influenced 
by  the  mild  benign  and  benevolent  principles  of  the 
Gospel ;  and  whose  example  is  a  constant  admonition 
to  such  pastors  and  professors  of  Christianity  as  are 
too  much  under  the  guidance  of  passion  prejudice  and 
worldly  delusion."  If  the  party  views  of  the  former 
proclamation  could  have  been  excused,  it  was  not  so 
with  this.  Every  Federalist  took  the  words  "  domestic 
foes  "  to  himself,  and  the  triplet  "  wisdom,  virtue  and 
firmness  "  became  at  once  a  by-word  among  the  Feder- 
1  "The  Clergy,"  Columbian  Centinel,  June  22,  1812. 


PROCLAMATIONS  OF  POLITICAL  PARTIES.    389 

alists.  The  ministers  of  Massachusetts  were  indignant 
beyond  expression.  It  had  never  occurred  before  that 
any  of  their  number  had  been  so  stigmatized  in  a  pro- 
clamation. They  knew  of  course  to  whom  particular 
reference  had  been  made,  and  the  general  compliment 
made  the  dose  only  more  bitter  for  them.  "  With  a 
few  exceptions,"  indeed!  when  it  was  well  known 
that  nine  tenths  of  the  ministers  were  strong  and  out- 
spoken Federalists.  And  this  they  were  expected  to 
read  from  their  pulpits,  —  to  declare  that  some  of 
their  brethren  were  passionate,  prejudiced,  and  de- 
luded! They  would  never  do  it,  and  the  majority 
did  not,  omitting  altogether  the  offensive  paragraphs.^ 
It  was  charged  upon  the  governor  that  this  was  a 
crafty  design  on  his  part  to  terrify  the  few  who  had 
boldness  to  speak  and  stir  up  sedition  in  their  par- 
ishes ;  2  but  the  few  were  not,  by  any  means,  fright- 
ened, though  trouble  did  shortly  afterwards  spring 
up  in  some  towns,  and  the  minister  suffered  for  his 
political  sermons.^  So  the  excitement  raged,  and  the 
Republican  governor  seemed  rather  to  have  had  the 
best  in  the  contest.  But  he  was  to  have  a  reckoning 
time,  for  the  election  was  coming  on,  and  the  disfavor 
of  the  Massachusetts  ministers  in  a  political  cam- 
paign was  not  to  be  despised.  At  this  juncture  the 
proclamation  for  the  spring  fast,  April  9,  1812,  was 
issued,  and  it  was  in  much  the  same  strain  as  its  pre- 

^  Rev.  Abiel  Holmes,  of  Cambridge,  read  it,  but  amid  the  disturb- 
ing" noise  of  the  college  students,  for  which  they  apologized,  meaning 
no  insult  to  the  clergyman  himself.  —  Columbian  Centinel,  November 
13,  1811. 

^  *'  Salutary  Counsel  to  His  Excellency,  Elbridge  Gerry,"  Columbian 
Centinel,  November  16  and  20,  1811. 

^  See  sermon  of  Rev.  Stephen  Bemis,  of  Harvard,  Mass.,  August  20, 
18X2,  for  an  account  of  his  troubles,  Bibliography,  No.  530. 


390         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

decessors.  How  could  the  ministers  better  express 
their  sentiments  than  by  refusing  to  read  it  from 
their  pulpits?  This  query  occurred  to  some  one, 
who  issued  an  address  "  To  the  Clergy  of  Massachu- 
setts," ^  a  part  of  which  is  as  follows :  "  '  With  few 
exceptions '  you  recoil  from  the  task,  however  author- 
itatively imposed,  '  of  calling  evil  good  and  good  evil ; 
of  putting  darkness  for  light,  and  light  for  darkness ; 
bitter  for  sweet  and  sweet  for  bitter.'  With  few  ex- 
ceptions,' therefore,  you  have  either  totally  neglected, 
or  considerably  abridged,  or  read  with  indignant 
reluctance  and  conscientious  scruples,  several  modern 
papers  purporting  to  be  Proclamations  of  Thanksgiv- 
ing, and  of  Fasting  and  Prayer,  in  this  Common- 
wealth. This,  as  might  be  expected,  has  entailed  upon 
you  an  increased  portion  of  calumny  and  abuse.  '  So 
persecuted  they  the  prophets  that  were  before  you.' 
At  the  commencement  of  the  American  Revolution, 
Proclamations  equally  offensive  were  repeatedly  pub- 
lished; and  the  manner  in  which  they  were  then 
treated  may  be  instructive  and  useful  in  our  day.^^ 
The  writer  then  refers  to  the  action  of  the  Associated 
Pastors  of  Boston  in  1774,  in  refusing  to  read  procla- 
mations, and  remarks  that  "  A  word  is  enough  for  a 
wise  man."  It  was  enough  in  this  instance  for  the 
ministers,  whether  they  were  wise  or  not.  The  procla- 
mation was  not  read  generally.  Dr.  Channing  excus- 
ing himself  on  the  ground  that  there  was  no  reason, 
civil  or  religious,  obliging  him  to  produce  the  warrant 
for  his  appointment  in  the  pulpit.^  The  election  came 
off,  and  Caleb  Strong,  the  Federalist  candidate,  was 
chosen  governor  of  Massachusetts. 

^  Columbian  Centinel,  April  4,  1812. 

2  Memoir  of  Eliza  S.  M.  Quinq/,  pp.  150,  151.  i 


PROCLAMATIONS  OF  POLITICAL  PARTIES.   391 

As  every  reader  knows,  war  was  proclaimed  against 
England,  greatly  to  the  disappointment  of  the  Feder- 
alists. The  next  act  of  the  drama,  therefore,  relates 
to  the  fast  day  which  was  proclaimed  in  Massachusetts 
July  23,  1812.  It  was  now  the  innings  of  those  who 
had  suffered  under  Governor  Gerry's  proclamations, 
and  the  feeling  was  so  great  that  Governor  Strong  had 
not  an  easy  task.  When  his  order  appeared,  it  was 
found  to  contain  these  words :  "  That  He  would  inspire 
the  President  and  Congress,  and  the  Government  of 
Great  Britain  with  just  and  pacific  sentiments,  that 
He  would  humble  the  pride  and  subdue  the  lust  and 
passion  of  men,  from  whence  wars  proceed,  and  that 
Peace  may  speedily  be  restored  to  us  upon  safe  and 
equitable  terms."  He  also  paid  a  compliment  to 
Great  Britain,  as  "  the  nation  from  which  they  were  de- 
scended," and  "  which  for  many  generations  had  been 
the  bulwark  of  the  religion  they  profess."  Consider- 
ing the  fact  that  the  EepubKcan  newspapers  had  been 
heralding  the  proclamation  of  war  as  "  blessed  news," 
and  that  the  English  "people  from  whom  they  had 
descended  "  were  at  the  time  hated  with  perfect  hatred, 
this  laudation  of  their  enemies  and  exhortation  to 
pray  for  peace  was  hard  for  the  Republicans  to  bear, 
—  fully  equal  to  anything  Governor  Gerry  had  in- 
flicted on  the  Federalists.  And  this  was  the  view 
taken  of  it  in  two  extended  articles  by  "  A  Clergy- 
man," printed  in  the  "  Boston  Patriot,"  where  his  Ex- 
cellency is  thus  addressed  :  "  Your  proclamation  for  a 
Fast  has  excited  the  astonishment  and  mortification  of 
every  friend  to  the  liberties  of  his  Country.  The  dis- 
mal tone   in  which  you  deplore  a  war    against  the 


392         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

*  nation  from  which  we  are  descended '  and  which  you 
denominate  '  the  bulwark  of  the  religion  we  profess,' 
may  indicate  your  feeHngs  and  principles."  i  But 
there  were  few  ministers  who  cared  thus  to  set  them- 
selves against  the  popular  sentiment  of  Massachusetts, 
which  was  increasingly  against  the  war.  The  fast  day 
brought  out  a  series  of  sermons  from  the  Federalists, 
and  prominent  among  them  were  those  of  Samuel 
Austin,  William  E.  Channing,  John  S.  J.  Gardiner, 
John  Lathrop,  Jedidiah  Morse,  and  last  but  not  least 
EHjah  Parish,  the  title  of  whose  discourse,  "  A  Pro- 
test against  the  War,"  would  have  been  appropriate 
for  them  all. 

About  this  time  President  James  Madison  ap- 
pointed a  national  fast  day  August  20,  1812,  to  pray 
that  "  God  would  guide  their  public  counsels,"  "  ani- 
mate their  patriotism,"  and  "  bestow  a  blessing  on 
their  arms."  Before  this  the  excitement  arising  from 
political  proclamations  had  been  confined  principally 
to  New  England ;  for,  though  Massachusetts  has  been 
selected  for  illustration,  it  must  not  be  supposed  that 
the  proclamations  in  other  States  did  not  contain, 
or  were  not  suspected  of  containing,  political  views. 
There  was  less  objection  in  Connecticut,  but  there  was 
some,  as  when  Governor  Griswold,  in  the  spring  of 
1812,  termed  the  war  "  an  offensive  war."  In  Ver- 
mont there  was  much,  and  particularly  in  regard  to  the 
national  fast.  Those  who  did  not  believe  the  war  was 
justifiable  regarded  the  President's  proclamation  as  an 
impertinence.  The  Federal  newspapers  everywhere 
were   outspoken   in    their  denunciation.       Ministers 

1  Boston  Patriot,  July  15  and  18,  1812. 


PROCLAMATIONS  OF  POLITICAL  PARTIES.   393 

were  asked  to  hold  divine  services  on  that  day,  and 
when  they  frankly  expressed  their  opinions  in  their 
sermons,  their  poHtical  preaching  was  condemned. 
For  all  this  the  proclamations,  which  invariably  re- 
flected the  views  of  the  governor,  as  the  national  pro- 
clamation did  those  of  the  President  and  Congress, 
were  to  blame.  They  contained  clauses  which  roused 
animosity,  and  little  else  could  be  expected  at  such  a 
time.  As  for  many  years  it  had  been  the  custom  to 
make  these  specific  in  detaihng  events,  the  authorities 
were  not  prepared  to  bring  out  one  of  such  a  neutral 
tint  that  none  would  be  offended.  And  this  has  al- 
ways been  the  danger  attending  special  days,  and  par- 
ticularly national  fast  days,  which  have  occasionally 
been  ordered  ;  they  relate  to  events  which  have  more 
or  less  political  significance,  and  in  which  the  people 
are  not  agreed.  At  the  present  day  proclamations 
similar  to  those  which  have  been  cited  would  precipi- 
tate a  like  disturbance  and  destroy  much  of  the  value 
of  such  an  occasion,  and  the  national  thanksgiving 
day  has  only  escaped  this  fate  by  its  relation  to  the 
harvest  and  the  home. 

There  were  two  more  national  fast  days  during  this 
period,  —  September  9,  1813,  and  January  12,  1815, 
but  they  present  nothing  new,  unless  we  except  the 
sermons  preached  upon  them.  Some  of  these,  as  well 
as  those  delivered  upon  the  usual  fast  and  thanksgiv- 
ing days,  were  intensely  political ;  but,  on  the  whole, 
the  interest  declined.  The  New  England  people  grew 
weary  of  the  conflict,  and  the  ministers,  having  emp- 
tied their  vials  of  wrath,  returned  to  more  important 
religious  themes.     At  last  a  national  thanksgiving  day 


394         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

for  peace  was  proclaimed  for  the  IStli  of  April,  1815, 
and  they  all  gave  themselves  to  its  celebration  with  a 
good  degree  of  satisfaction,  some  praising  God  that 
the  war  had  turned  out  so  well,  and  others  that  it 
had  turned  out  no  worse. 


^■nnt/i 


^'^^t  ^^' 


CHAPTEK  XXVII. 


THE   DEVELOPMENT    OF    THE   NATIONAL   THANKS- 
GIVING  DAY. 

The  national  harvest  thanksgiving  day  was  conse- 
crated at  Plymouth  in  the  autumn  of  1621.  If  it 
were  given  us  to  devise  a  seal  for  this  institution,  it 
would  represent  a  little  company  of  our  Pilgrim  fore- 
fathers gathered  in  devout  gratitude  about  their  sim- 
ple board,  with  the  Indian  chieftain  Massasoit  as  their 
guest.  This  would  be  emblematic  of  a  festival  which 
is  now  celebrated  by  American  citizens,  representing 
all  the  ancient  races  that  went  forth  out  of  Noah's 
ark.  The  day  is  now  ordered  by  the  Executive  in 
States  and  Territories  as  vast  as  the  lands  bounded  in 
a  colonial  charter,  and  extending  between  the  two 
great  oceans,  from  arctic  cold  to  torrid  heat.  Its 
proclamations  bear  seals  with  devices  as  various  as 
the  vine  of  Connecticut,  the  palmetto-tree  of  South 
Carohna,  the  beehive  of  Utah,  and  the  seal  islands  of 
Alaska.  The  acceptance  of  the  institution  is  assured ; 
it  is  fulfilling  the  mission  for  which  the  Pilgrims  con- 
secrated it,  though  among  a  people  and  in  a  land  of 
which  they  never  dreamed. 

In  honor  of  the  guest  at  Plymouth  we  quote  from 
the  proclamation  issued  by  J.  B.  Mayes,  the  principal 
chief  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  in  1891 :  — 

"Whereas,  Benjamin  Harrison,  our  great  father,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  has  issued  a  Proclamation  setting 


396  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

apart  the  26  inst.  as  a  day  of  joyful  thanksgiving,  in  which  to 
thank  God  *  for  the  bounties  of  His  providence,  for  the  peace  in 
which  we  are  permitted  to  enjoy  them,  and  for  the  preservation 
of  those  institutions  of  civil  and  religious  liberties.'  It  is  proper 
that  the  Cherokee  People  should  participate  in  this  joyful  praise, 
and  thanks  to  God  for  the  peace  and  prosperity  they  now  enjoy, 
and  ask  Him  to  continue  to  the  Cherokee  People  that  civil  lib- 
erty they  have  enjoyed  from  time  immemorial,  and  ask  that 
they  may  continue  in  the  peaceful  possession  of  their  land  and 
homes  to  a  time  without  end.  Now,  therefore,  I,  J.  B.  Mayes, 
Principal  Chief  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  do  hereby  appoint 
Thursday,  November  the  26th,  1891,  to  be  a  day  of  Thanks- 
giving and  Praise  to  God,  that  He  still  permits  the  Cherokee 
Nation  of  Indians  to  live  in  the  enjoyment  of  this  civil  and  reli- 
gious liberty,  and  in  this  struggle  for  the  right  of  soil  and  self- 
government,  ask  Him  to  shield  us  from  all  danger." 

Thus  does  the  enlightened  representative  of  Massa- 
soit's  race  summon  his  people  to  thanksgiving.  The 
fact  brings  into  a  clear  light  the  present  popularity 
of  the  institution.  To  what  proportions  has  it  come 
that  so  many  millions  were  bidden  to  keep  this  ancient 
festival!  In  the  year  1891  fifty  proclamations  were 
issued,  —  forty-four  States  and  six  Territories,  —  and 
many  of  them  are  as  characteristic  of  their  local  con- 
stituency as  the  one  by  the  Indian  chieftain.^  The 
day  was  welcomed  by  all  who  fully  entered  into  its 
significance,  —  a  joyous  occasion,  which  may  surely 
make  a  claim  to  be  venerated  as  the  oldest  American 
holiday.  It  may  be  presumed  that  many  households, 
far  and  near,  reUgiously  kept  the  feast  of  plenty  in 
the  home,  but  it  is  certain  that  some  regarded  it 
mainly  as  a  time  for  recreations,  the  negro  having  his 

^  The  District  of  Columbia  was  the  only  exception  where  it  has  not 
been  customary,  the  commissioners,  who  are  the  executive  officers, 
merely  issuing  an  order  to  respect  the  proclamation  of  the  President, 
which,  under  the  law,  extends  to  the  District  of  Columbia. 


THE  NATIONAL  THANKSGIVING  DAY,      397 

turkey-shoot,  the  Chinese  their  turn  at  fan-tan,  and 
the  university  student  his  ball-game,  while  a  goodly 
company  everywhere,  of  various  sects,  went  to  the 
house  of  God  and  gave  sincere  thanks  to  Him  "  from 
whom  Cometh  every  good  and  every  perfect  gift." 

The  first  alien  people  to  receive  this  institution  of 
the  Pilgrims,  strange  to  relate,  were  the  American 
Indians.  They  made  its  acquaintance  at  Plymouth, 
and  as  Christianity  spread  among  them  through  the 
efforts  of  Rev.  John  Eliot  and  others,  they  entered 
into  the  religious  observances  of  the  whites.  For  fast 
days  particularly  they  had  a  use  in  humbling  them- 
selves, confessing  their  sins ;  ^  and  so  early  as  Novem- 
ber 15,  1658,  we  find  them  keeping  a  fast  on  account 
of  excessive  rains,  as  their  white  neighbors  had  done 
a  few  days  before.  Such  was  their  custom.  An  early 
writer  said  of  them :  "  They  observe  no  holy-days 
but  the  Lord's  day,  except  upon  some  extraordinary 
occasion,  and  then  they  solemnly  set  apart  whole  days, 
either  giving  thanks  or  fasting  and  praying  with  great 
fervour  of  mind."  ^  So  they  received  the  thanksgiv- 
ing day,  and  upon  one  occasion  already  noted  their  ex- 
ample was  a  rebuke  to  their  teachers  .^  In  their  Chris- 
tian communities,  as  at  Natick  and  Stockbridge,  these 
days  were  highly  regarded.  The  Indian  missionary, 
Samson  Occom,  carried  the  practice  westward  into 
the  wilderness,  and  doubtless  one  of  the  earliest  cele- 
brations of  a  thanksgiving  day  in  the  Oneida  country 
was  by  the  Indian  congregation  of  Rev.  John  Sergeant 
in  their  new  home  at  West  Stockbridge,  N.  Y.  So 
also  their  descendants  years  afterwards  established  the 

1  Eliot's  Tears  of  Repentance ;  Neal's  Hist.  ofN.  E.,  i.  256  ff. 

2  Andros  Tracts,  ii.  20  ;  Magnalia^  i.  570.  3  j^ote,  p.  247. 


398        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

institution  in  the  then  far  distant  Territory  of  Wis- 
consin. In  the  light  of  these  and  other  facts,  a  deep 
significance  attaches  itself  to  the  words  which  Prin- 
cipal Chief  Bushyhead  of  the  Cherokees  used  in  his 
proclamation  of  1882 :  "  While  thanksgiving  days 
last,  and  are  sincerely  kept,  we  need  not  fear  that  a 
magnanimous  people  will  see  their  Government  drag 
and  thrust  the  remnant  of  our  race  into  the  abyss." 

The  national  thanksgiving  day  has  come  to  pass 
through  the  operation  of  various  forces,  some  of  which 
are  as  apphcable  to  the  fast  day,  though  not  those 
which  have  been  most  decisive,  and  therefore  the  latter 
institution  has  been  left  behind.  For  many  years  the 
streams  of  emigration  flowed  from  New  England,  as 
rivers  from  a  mountain  spring,  and  the  children  car- 
ried the  knowledge  of  the  autumn  festival  wherever 
they  went.  It  was  as  dear  to  them  as  the  memories 
of  their  childhood  home.  So  the  day  arose  naturally, 
and  almost  simultaneously  with  government  itself,  in 
those  Western  States  which  were  settled  by  people 
from  New  England..  It  has  literally  grown  up  with 
the  country.  The  progress  was  slower  in  the  South- 
ern States,  where  they  were  somewhat  prepared  for 
occasional  thanksgivings,  but  were  once  suspicious  of 
a  Puritan  institution  lest  some  Puritan  doctrine  might 
be  concealed  within.  To  some  extent  the  fast  day, 
for  which  many  religious  persons  had  no  use,  hindered 
the  adoption  of  the  thanksgiving  day,  and  not  until 
late  years  have  they  been  so  divorced  that  the  distinc- 
tive character  of  the  latter  is  apparent.  Above  all, 
it  has  been  the  character  of  the  day  itself,  —  its  season 
after  harvest,  which  in  all  countries  has  been  com- 
memorated ;  its  joyous  meaning,  for  which  men  have 


THE  NATIONAL   THANKSGIVING  DAY,     399 

ever  had  a  stronger  desire  than  for  confession  and 
repentance ;  its  feast  of  plenty,  which  has  gathered 
the  family  and  exalted  the  home  life,  —  which  has 
operated  to  bring  the  custom  into  national  favor. 

A  gradual  working  of  the  principle  of  union  is  evi- 
dent from  the  first.  The  church  at  Salem  reached 
out  its  hand  for  the  sympathy  of  Plymouth,  and  the 
New  England  colonies  recognized  the  emergencies 
and  deliverances  of  each  other.  It  was  natural  and 
proper  for  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies 
to  agree  to  commend  to  the  several  general  courts  or 
coimcils  to  appoint  days  in  view  of  the  concerns  in 
which  they  were  mutually  interested.  So  also,  later 
on,  when  they  were  united  in  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, with  other  colonies  along  the  Atlantic  coast 
which  had  known  occasional  appointments  of  the  kind, 
it  was  the  utterance  of  a  common  sentiment  which 
led  to  such  days. 

The  reader  will  recall  the  fact  that  there  were  three 
fasts  set  by  the  Continental  Congress  before  the  first 
thanksgiving.  These  furthered  the  idea  of  union. 
The  fu-st  was  that  for  July  20,  1775.  On  the  com- 
mittee to  draw  up  the  proclamation  North  Carolina  was 
represented  by  Mr.  Hooper  and  Massachusetts  by  John 
Adams.  No  objection  was  made  to  the  custom  in 
this  instance.  Probably  it  had  been  furthered  by  the 
action  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia, 
recommeli.ding  to  their  congregations  the  last  Thurs- 
day in  June,  imless  the  Congress  should  appoint  a  fast, 
in  which  case  their  date  should  be  observed.  The 
second  fast  was  May  17,  1776,  recommended  by  a 
vote  of  March  16,  on  a  report  of  Mr.  W.  Living- 
stone. The  third  was  in  accordance  with  a  resolution 
of  December  11, 1776,  in  which  each  State  was  left  to 


400         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

fix  its  own  date,  and  by  their  agreement  January  29, 
1777,  was  selected.  In  the  autumn  of  that  year  came 
the  surrender  of  Burgoyne,  in  consequence  of  which 
the  first  Continental  thanksgiving  day  was  appointed, 
December  18,  1777.  On  the  31st  of  October  the 
Congress  passed  the  following  resolution,  "That  a 
Committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  prepare  a  recom- 
mendation to  the  several  States  to  set  apart  a  day  for 
thanksgiving  for  the  signal  success  lately  obtained 
over  the  enemies  of  these  United  States."  The  mem- 
bers chosen  were  Mr.  Samuel  Adams,  Mr.  Richard 
Henry  Lee,  and  Mr.  Daniel  Roberdeau,  and  thus 
Massachusetts,  Virginia,  and  Pennsylvania  were  rep- 
resented in  the  event,  though  the  proclamation  was 
probably  drawn  up  by  Samuel  Adams.  The  action  of 
Congress  having  been  communicated  to  the  governors 
of  the  several  States,  some  reissued  the  proclamation 
with  an  appended  recommendation,  which  was  the 
early  custom,  rather  than  that  at  present  practiced  of 
a  separate  proclamation  in  each  State.  One  procla- 
mation in  all  the  commonwealths  had  manifest  advan- 
tages in  producing  a  unity  of  sentiment  in  the  obser- 
vance, which,  indeed,  is  as  important  now  as  then, 
though  there  are  good  reasons  for  the  present  custom. 
Considering  the  thanksgiving  day  as  an  institution, 
apart  from  its  annual  and  harvest  features,  the  day 
then  appointed  merits  the  honor  of  being  the  first  na- 
tional thanksgiving  day  in  America.  As  such  the 
proclamation  is  worthy  of  record. 

IN  CONGRESS 

November  1,  1777. 
Forasmuch  as  it  is  the  indispensible  Duty  of  all  Men  to  adore 
the  superintending  Providence  of  Almighty  God ;  to  acknowledge 


THE  NATIONAL    THANKSGIVING  DAY.      401 

with  Gratitude  their  Obligation  to  him  for  Benefits  received,  and  to 
implore  such  farther  Blessings  as  they  stand  in  Need  of:  And  it 
having  pleased  him  in  his  abundant  Mercy,  not  only  to  continue  to 
us  the  innumerable  Bounties  of  his  common  Providence  j  but  also  to 
smile  upon  us  in  the  Prosecution  of  a  Just  and  necessary  War,  for 
the  Defence  and  Establishment  of  our  unalienable  Rights  and  Lib- 
erties  ;  particularly  in  that  he  hath  been  pleased,  in  so  great  a  Mea- 
sure, to  prosper  the  Means  used  for  the  Support  of  our  Troops,  and 
to  crown  our  Arms  with  most  signal  success  : 

It  is  therefore  recommended  to  the  legislative  or  executive 
Powers  of  these  United  States,  to  set  apart  THURSDAY, 
the  eighteenth  Day  of  December  next,  for  Solemn  Thanksgiving 
and  Praise  :  That  at  one  Time  and  with  one  Voice,  the  good 
People  may  express  the  grateful  Feelings  of  their  Hearts,  and 
consecrate  themselves  to  the  Service  of  their  Divine  Benefactor ; 
and  that,  together  with  their  sincere  Acknowledgements  and 
Offerings,  they  may  join  the  penitent  Confession  of  their  mani- 
fold Sins,  whereby  they  had  forfeited  every  Favour  ;  and  their 
humble  and  earnest  Supplication  that  it  may  please  GOD 
through  the  Merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  mercifully  to  forgive  and 
blot  them  out  of  Remembrance  :  That  it  may  please  him  gra- 
ciously to  afford  his  Blessing  on  the  Governments  of  these  States 
respectively,  and  prosper  the  public  Council  of  the  whole  :  To 
inspire  our  Commanders,  both  by  Land  and  Sea,  and  all  under 
them,  with  that  Wisdom  and  Fortitude  which  may  render  them 
fit  Instruments,  under  the  Providence  of  Almighty  GOD,  to  se- 
cure for  these  United  States,  the  greatest  of  all  human  Blessings, 
INDEPENDENCE  and  PEACE  :  That  it  may  please  him,  to 
prosper  the  Trade  and  Manufactures  of  the  People,  and  the  La- 
bour of  the  Husbandman,  that  our  Land  may  yield  its  Increase  : 
To  take  Schools  and  Seminaries  of  Education,  so  necessary  for  cul- 
tivating the  Principles  of  true  Liberty,  Virtue  and  Piety,  under 
his  nurturing  Hand  ;  and  to  prosper  the  Means  of  Religion,  for 
the  promotion  and  enlargement  of  that  Kingdom,  which  consist- 
eth  "  in  Righteousness,  Peace  and  Joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.^^ 

And  it  is  further  recommended.  That  servile  Labour,  and 
such  Recreation,  as,  though  at  other  Times  innocent,  may  be 
unbecoming  the  Purpose  of  this  Appointment,  be  omitted  on  so 
solemn  an  Occasion. 

Extract  from  the  Minutes, 

Charles  Thomson,  Secr. 


402        ^FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

In  some  respects  this  day  was  the  most  remarkable 
in  our  history.  The  circumstances  were  such  that  the 
people  entered  into  it  heartily,  and  though  the  harvest 
was  not  prominent  and  an  autumn  thanksgiving  had 
been  already  celebrated  in  some  New  England  States, 
the  feast  was  not  omitted  in  many  homes  on  that  joy- 
ous occasion.  All  patriots  observed  it  with  earnest- 
ness. Eloquent  sermons  were  preached  everywhere. 
The  soldiers  especially  were  gathered  at  the  services. 
Washington's  army  was  then  at  Yalley  Forge,  and  the 
following  is  the  entry  in  his  orderly  book :  "  Tomor- 
row being  the  day  set  apart  by  the  honorable  Congress 
for  Public  Thanksgiving  and  praise,  and  duty  calling 
us  devoutly  to  express  our  grateful  acknowledgments 
to  God  for  the  manifold  blessings  he  has  granted  us, 
the  general  directs  that  the  army  remain  in  its  present 
quarters,  and  that  the  chaplains  perform  divine  ser- 
vice with  their  several  corps  and  brigades,  and  ear- 
nestly exhorts  all  officers  and  soldiers  whose  absence  is 
not  indispensably  necessary  to  attend  with  reverence 
the  solemnities  of  the  day." 

In  1778  the  thanksgiving  day  was  December  30. 
The  proclamation  was  framed  by  the  chaplains  of 
Congress,  and  amended  by  that  body.  Its  chief  senti- 
ment was  gratitude  to  God  for  "  disposing  the  heart 
of  a  powerful  monarch  to  enter  into  an  alliance  with 
us,"  for  which  General  Washington  had  already  kept 
a  thanksgiving  in  his  army  the  7th  of  May  previous, 
issuing  an  order  which  much  resembles  a  proclama- 
tion, and  mingling  in  the  exercises  worship,  the  firing 
of  cannon,  and  a  chorus  of  huzzas,  "  Long  live  the 
King  of  France."  So  the  practice  was  continued 
year  by  year,  December  11,  1783,  being  a  thanksgiv- 


THE  NATIONAL    THANKSGIVING  DAY,      403 

ing  for  peace,  and  October  19,  1784,  for  the  treaty 
ratifying  the  same ;  and  we  have  a  series  of  national 
thanksgivings,  in  the  autumn  or  early  winter,  from 
1777  to  1784.  For  the  time  being  this  was  the  adop- 
tion of  the  institution,  but  during  the  following  years 
of  settling  the  government,  the  custom  of  state  ap- 
pointments returned.  The  first  national  Congress 
after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  in  1789  had 
the  question  thrust  upon  it,  whether  the  practice  of 
the  Continental  Congress  should  be  followed.  But  the 
matter  then  appeared  in  another  light  because  of 
the  issue  before  the  people.  On  the  25th  of  Septem- 
ber, Eli  as  Boudinot  introduced  the  following  resolu- 
tion in  the  House  of  Representatives :  "  Resolved, 
That  a  Joint  Committee  of  both  Houses  be  directed 
to  wait  upon  the  President  of  the  United  States,  to 
request  that  he  would  recommend  to  the  People  of  the 
United  States  a  day  of  Thanksgiving  and  Prayer,  to 
be  observed  by  acknowledging  with  grateful  hearts 
the  many  signal  favours  of  Almighty  God,  especially 
by  affording  them  an  opportunity  peacefully  to  estab- 
lish a  Constitution  of  Government  for  their  safety  and 
happiness."  A  discussion  followed,  in  the  course  of 
which  Mr.  Burke,  of  South  Carolina,  said  he  "  did  not 
like  this  mimicking  of  European  customs,  where  they 
made  a  mere  mockery  of  thanksgivings.  Two  parties 
at  war  frequently  sung  Te  Deum  for  the  same  event, 
though  to  one  it  was  a  victory  and  to  the  other  a  de- 
feat." Mr.  Tucker,  of  South  Carolina,  observed  that 
"  the  House  had  no  business  to  interfere  in  a  matter 
which  did  not  concern  them.  Why  should  the  Presi- 
dent direct  the  people  to  do  what  perhaps  they  have 
no  mind  to  do  ?     They  may  not  be  inclined  to  return 


404         FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

thanks  for  a  Constitution  until  they  have  experienced 
that  it  promotes  their  safety  and  happiness.  ...  It 
is  a  religious  matter,  and  as  such  is  proscribed  to  us. 
If  a  day  of  thanksgiving  must  take  place,  let  it  be 
done  by  the  authority  of  the  several  States.  They 
know  best  what  reason  their  constituents  have  to  be 
pleased  with  the  establishment  of  the  Constitution." 
Messrs.  Boudinot  and  Sherman  advocated  the  mea- 
sure as  warranted  by  Holy  Writ  and  the  precedents  of 
the  late  Congress.  The  real  objection  in  all  this  was, 
of  course,  on  political  grounds,  and  to  the  proposed 
thanksgiving  for  a  constitution  which  some  of  them 
had  opposed.  Had  they  considered  the  day,  not  as 
a  thanksgiving  for  the  success  of  the  Federalists,  but 
as  an  autumn  harvest  festival,  they  would  have  found 
no  objection  to  it,  though  it  might  have  been  thought 
unnecessary.  The  Revolution  had  deepened  the  con- 
ception of  a  thanksgiving  as  an  occasional  observance 
in  the  minds  even  of  those  from  New  England.  It  was 
necessary  that  time  should  modify  that  Puritan  custom 
before  the  day  could  be  accepted  by  a  people  among 
whom  events  were  wont  to  assume  a  political  relation. 
Notwithstanding  the  opposition,  however,  the  resolution 
passed,  and  was  concurred  in  by  the  Senate  three  days 
afterwards.  The  proclamation  of  George  Washington, 
appointing  Thursday,  November  26,  1789,  was  the 
result,  and  it  was  the  first  national  thanksgi\dng  day 
after  the  government  was  established. 

It  may  be  assumed  that  the  New  England  represen- 
tatives would  have  then  agreed  to  the  annual  appoint- 
ment of  a  thanksgiving  day,  but  in  consequence  of  the 
opposition  the  subject  of  national  appointments  was  not 
brought  up  again  for  nearly  three  years.     On  the  1st 


THE  NATIONAL    THANKSGIVING  DAY.      405 

of  May,  1792,  the  House  resolved  to  ask  the  President 
to  appoint  a  fast  day.  No  action,  however,  was  taken 
by  the  Senate  on  the  matter  so  far  as  the  record  shows, 
and  certainly  no  such  day  was  appointed,  though  this 
resolution  has  led  to  the  statement  that  the  first  na- 
tional  fast  day  was  in  1792.  The  opinion  prevailed 
that  a  resolution  of  Congress  was  not  necessary,  if  the 
President  thought  fit  to  recommend  such  a  day.  And 
it  was  without  any  action  on  the  part  of  Congress 
that  Washington,  moved  by  the  situation  of  public 
affairs,  in  January,  1795,  made  the  recommendation 
for  a  thanksgiving  February  19,  —  the  memorable  day 
which  did  much  to  confirm  Massachusetts  in  its  politi- 
cal observance  and  operated  to  bring  about  the  Good 
Friday  fast  in  Connecticut.  This  was  the  second 
national  thanksgiving  day  recommended  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  and  these  were  the  only 
appointments  by  George  Washington. 

Under  the  administration  of  John  Adams  two  na- 
tional fast  days  were  observed  as  already  noted,  —  May 
9, 1798,  and  April  25, 1799,  but  no  thanksgiving  day. 
It  was  not  until  1815,  and  after  tlu'ee  national  fasts 
on  account  of  the  war,  that  another  national  thanks- 
giving was  appointed  by  the  President,  James  Madison. 
The  cause  was  peace  with  Great  Britain.  On  Febru- 
ary 18,  1815,  the  following  resolution  was  introduced 
in  the  House  of  Representatives  :  "It  being  a  duty 
peculiarly  incumbent  in  a  time  of  public  calamity  and 
war.,  humbly  and  devoutly  to  achnowledge  our  depen- 
dence on  Almighty  God  and  to  implore  his  aid  and 
protection  and  in  times  of  deliverance  and  prosperity  to 
manifest  our  deep  and  undissembled  gratitude  to  the 
Almighty  Sovereign  of  the  Universe  :  Resolved,  by  the 


406         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  that  a  Joint 
Committee  of  both  Houses  wait  on  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  request  that  he  recommend  a  day 
of  Thanksgiving,  to  be  observed  by  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  with  religious  solemnity,  and  the  offer- 
ing of  devout  acknowledgments  to  God  for  his  mercies, 
and  in  prayer  to  him  for  the  continuance  of  his  bless- 
ings." The  portion  printed  in  italics  was  finally 
stricken  from  the  resolution,  because  it  seemed  to 
some  to  be  an  attempt  to  sanction  the  fast  days  which 
the  President  had  appointed  during  the  war,  and 
which  had  met  with  such  resistance  among  his  politi- 
cal enemies.  Evidently  the  national  political  fast  was 
dead,  but  as  amended  the  resolution  embodied  the 
sentiment  of  the  modern  national  thanksgiving  day. 
It  passed,  and  the  day  fixed  upon  was  April  13, 1815. 
We  know  of  no  other  national  appointments  for  a 
quarter  century,  though  a  proposition  was  made  for 
a  fast  in  1832,  an  account  of  the  cholera,  in  view  of 
which  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  kept  the  9th  of 
August.  But  in  1841  the  14th  of  May  was  made  a 
national  fast  day  because  of  the  death  of  President 
Harrison,  and  again  in  1849,  President  Taylor  set  a 
fast  on  the  3d  of  August  on  account  of  the  cholera. 
The  idea  of  national  days  had  so  far  died  out  that 
only  the  most  extraordinary  cause  could  produce  one. 
Meanwhile,  however,  the  annual  thanksgiving  day  had 
been  coming  into  favor,  and  it  was  this  enlarged 
interest  in  it  outside  of  New  England  which  finally 
revived  national  appointments  during  the  civil  war. 
The  Executive  of  the  nation  must  needs  wait  for  this 
conquest  of  the  institution  itself   among  the  people. 


THE  NATIONAL   THANKSGIVING  DAY,      407 

States  like  New  York  took  up  the  idea  of  an  annual 
thanksgiving.  Since  the  year  1817  the  Empire 
State  has  observed  the  day,  doubtless  largely  owing  to 
Governor  DeWitt  Clinton,  who  maintained  the  custom 
for  ten  years.^  Other  States  took  the  same  action. 
In  some  of  the  northwestern  States  it  has  been 
customary  since  they  were  admitted  into  the  Union, 
Minnesota  made  a  law  requiring  the  governor  to  set 
apart  such  a  day.  In  North  Carolina  it  was  estab- 
lished by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly.  So,  little 
by  little,  the  idea  gained  recognition ;  and  before 
the  annual  thanksgiving  was  made  a  national  institu- 
tion by  the  President's  appointments,  it  had  become  all 
but  universal  by  the  action  of  the  several  States.  In 
1858  Mr.  Franklin  B.  Hough  made  an  examination, 
and  reprinted  all  the  proclamations  of  that  year, 
which  included  all  the  States  except  Virginia,  Ken- 
tucky, Louisiana,  Arkansas,  Texas,  and  Cahfornia. 
Virginia  observed  one  in  1855,  but  in  1857  Governor 
Wise  declined  to  accede  to  requests  made  to  him  for 
such  a  day,  on  the  ground  that  he  had  no  authority  to 
interfere  in  matters  of  religion. 

We  have  now  come  to  the  experiences  of  the  civil 
war.  It  happened  naturally,  as  during  the  Revolu- 
tion, that  the  fast  day  preceded  the  thanksgiving,  the 
circumstances  being  more  appropriate  for  humilia- 
tion.    In  the  early  days  of  calamity  the  people  were 

^  Governor  John  Jay  issued  several  proclamations,  but  their  polit- 
ical significance  made  them  unpopular.  Governor  Clinton's  met  with 
the  same  criticism,  but  the  most  singular  objection  to  them  was  from 
the  people  of  Southampton,  L.  I.,  who  had  been  accustomed  to  reg- 
ulate their  thanksgiving  by  the  return  of  the  cattle  from  the  Mon- 
tauk  pastures.  Many  Long  Island  people  had  customarily  kept 
Connecticut  days.     See  Proc.for  Thanksgiving ^  Hough,  pp.  x,  xi. 


408         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

summoned  to  fasting.^  Two  such  days  were  kept  in 
1861,  —  January  4  and  September  26  ;  but  it  was 
not  until  1863  that  the  horizon  had  so  brightened  as 
to  warrant  a  national  thanksgiving.     Then  President 

*  Abraham  Lincoln  appointed  one  on  the  6  th  of  Au- 
gust because  of  the  victory  at  Gettysburg.     On  the 

>  26  th  of  November  the  same  year  another  thanksgiv- 
ing was  observed,  and  this  was  really  the  harvest 
festival  throughout  the  country,  as  every  Northern 
State  then  recognized  the  institution.  So  also  in 
1864,  the  24th  of  November  was  kept.  Then  came 
the  assassination  of  Lincoln,  on   which  account  the 

*  fast  of  June  1,  1865,  was  proclaimed,  following  his 
own  precedent  in  appointing  April  30,  1863,  and 
August  4,  1864.  It  might  have  been  that  the  na- 
tional thanksgiving  in  1865  would  have  been  omitted, 

^  had  it  not  been  for  the  efforts  of  Rev.  Benj.  F.  Mor- 
ris, of  Washington,  who  moved  the  First  Congrega- 
tional Church  in  that  city  to  send  a  committee  to 
President  Andrew  Johnson  and  request  him  to  issue 
a  proclamation.  However,  this  was  but  an  incident 
in  a  movement  which  must  have  resulted  in  the  for- 
mal adoption  of  the  institution  by  the  nation.  The 
several  States  were  prepared  for  it.  During  the  cen- 
tury that  had  passed  since  the  Revolution  the  harvest 
feature  of  the  day  had  become  dominant,  and  such 
an  institution  the  people  were  glad  to  receive.  Since 
that  time  it  has  been  customary  for  the  President  to 
issue  a  proclamation  annually,  appointing  a  national 
thanksgiving  day  the  last  Thursday  of  November,  and 

^  Both  fasts  and  thanksgiving's  were  kept  in  the  Confederate  States 
during  the  Rebellion.  July  28, 1861,  was  a  thanksgiving  for  the  "  Vic- 
tory at  Manassas ; ' '  February  28,  1862,  and  April  8,  1864,  were  fasts. 


THE  NATIONAL   THANKSGIVING  DAY.      409 

the  States  have  issued  their  own  proclamations  naming 
the  same  day.  In  1876  President  U.  S.  Grant  by 
proclamation  made  the  4th  of  July  a  special  thanks- 
giving day  to  be  kept  by  religious  services  ''  for  the 
blessings  which  have  been  bestowed  upon  us  as  a 
Nation  during  the  century^  of  our  existence."  The 
present  national  custom  may  be  said  to  be  the  ap- 
pointment of  an  annual  harvest  thanksgiving,  and 
such  special  fast  or  thanksgiving  days  as  the  circinn- 
stances  of  sorrow  or  joy  may  seem  to  warrant.  If  we 
speak  of  the  thanksgiving  day  as  a  national  institu- 
tion, it  dates  back  to  the  Revolution,  and  the  first  was 
December  18,  1777  ;  but  if  we  have  in  mind  the  an- 
nual harvest  thanksgiving  day,  it  became  nationalized 
through  the  adoption  of  it  by  the  several  States,  and 
the  first  appointment  was  by  Abraham  Lincoln,  the 
26th  of  November,  1863.  There  are  none  now  in  our 
broad  land  who  will  dispute  the  right  the  day  has  to 
be  reverenced.  It  has  made  conquests  among  all  our 
heterogeneous  races,  has  come  to  be  regarded  in  every 
commonwealth,  and  has  received  the  sanction  of  all 
religions.  More  than  two  and  a  half  centuries  have 
rolled  away  since  the  beloved  forefathers  christened 
it  at  Plymouth  in  the  golden  autumn  of  1621,  but 
though  it  is  thus  the  ancient  of  days,  it  is  as  young 
now  as  then.  Some  of  our  later  holidays  cannot  ex- 
pect such  an  immortality.  They  will  fall  into  neglect 
in  the  course  of  time.  But  of  this  day,  enshrined  in 
our  home  life,  it  can  be  confidently  prophesied,  in  the 
lines  of  the  poet,  — 

"  Men  may  come  and  men  may  ^o^ 
But  I  go  on  forever." 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

LAWS   AND   CUSTOMS. 

The  manner  in  which  aU  religious  seasons  were 
observed  by  the  Puritans  was  the  natural  expression 
of  their  inner  life.  They  were  a  serious  and  solemn 
folk,  who  had  a  reverence,  almost  superstitious,  for 
the  meeting-house,  considered  worship  in  it  to  be  the 
chief  exercise  of  a  holy  day,  and  thorouglily  abhorred 
all  other  occupations  which  might  dissipate  the  impres- 
sion of  those  services.  Even  the  time  necessarily 
spent  in  the  home  was  filled  with  penitential  reflec- 
tions, the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  and  some  few 
devotional  and  theological  books ;  but,  above  all.  with 
catechetical  instruction.  To  this  latter  duty  the  New 
England  fathers  were  urged  by  the  very  first  general 
letter  of  the  company  to  John  Endicott  in  1629, 
wherein  they  were  commanded  to  "  surcease  their 
labo^  every  Satterday  throughout  the  yeare  at  3  of  the 
clock  in  the  afternoone,"  and  "  spend  the  rest  of  that 
day  in  catichising  and  p'paracon  for  the  Saboth,  as 
the  ministers  shall  direct."  ^  It  was  at  great  expense 
that  they  had  rescued  the  Sabbath  from  the  debauch- 
ing influences  of  former  times,  and  they  intended  to 
establish  it  in  New  England  as  a  holy  day,  —  a  bless- 
ing to  them  and  their  descendants  after  the  ideal  which 
they  entertained  of  religious  life.  This  general  con- 
ception of  a  holy  day  held  sway  with  the  people  in  all 
1  Mass.  Col.  Bec.j  i.  395. 


LAWS  AND   CUSTOMS,  411 

the  colonies,  until,  little  by  little,  their  Puritan  temper 
of  mind  was  modified,  and  consequently  burdensome 
regulations  were  relaxed. 

The  forces  which  had  developed  fast  and  thanks- 
giving days  before  the  emigration  had  also  secured 
for  them  an  equahty  with  the  Lord's  Day.  Such 
occasions  in  the  history  of  Israel  they  judged  to  have 
been  kept  as  Sabbaths ;  and,  in  their  own  secret  con- 
venticles, as  also  upon  days  publicly  proclaimed,  they 
knew  not  how  to  observe  them  otherwise.  Further- 
more, the  English  laws  then  in  force  applied  alike  in 
many  respects  to  all  holy  days,  some  of  which  were 
even  more  reverently  regarded  than  Sunday.  We 
cannot  imagine  that,  in  the  face  of  such  legislation, 
reaching  back  through  centuries,  the  Puritans  would 
have  kept  their  fast  and  thanksgiving  days,  other  than 
with  the  greatest  strictness.  Such  was  their  practice. 
Neither  in  law  nor  in  custom  did  they  recognize  any 
difference  between  them  and  the  Sabbath,  as  respects 
abstaining  from  labor  and  amusements,  or  attendance 
upon  the  appointed  services.  There  was  no  need, 
therefore,  of  any  specific  law  concerning  them  for 
some  time,  other  than  that  implied  in  the  obligation 
to  keep  the  Lord's  Day.  The  earliest  laws  related  to 
the  authority  for  appointments,  as  for  instance  that 
of  the  Plymouth  Colony  in  1636  already  quoted,  and 
one  which  is  found  in  the  Body  of  Liberties  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  in  1641,  giving  every 
church  freedom  to  celebrate  such  days  according  to 
the  word  of  God.  At  this  time,  however,  a  command 
may  have  been  appended  to  the  orders,  after  the 
ancient  practice  in  England,  requiring  the  people 
to  abstain  from  their  usual  avocations,  for  Winslow 


412         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

notes  that  the  first  public  fast  at  Plymouth  was  "  set 
apart  from  all  other  employments."  We  have  not 
the  full  text  of  these  orders,  and  cannot  assert  that 
this  was  not  usual.  The  first  proclamation  we  have 
met  with,  having  this  requirement,  is  that  for  a  fast 
in  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  April  20,  1648, 
which  has  the  words  "  all  psons  are  here  [by]  required 
to  abstaine  from  bodily  labo'  that  day  &  to  resort  to 
y®  publike  meetings,  to  seeke  y®  Lord,  as  becomes 
Christians  in  a  day  of  humiliation."  ^  Such  a  clause 
does  not  appear  in  an  earlier  order  for  a  fast,  De- 
cember 24,  1646,  which  seems  to  be  complete.  We 
should  therefore  conclude  that  this  command  —  for  so 
many  years  afterwards  customarily  appended  to  pro- 
clamations— had  its  origin,  not  in  an  English  custom, 
but  in  the  law  which  was  enacted  by  the  General  Court 
of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  at  the  session  No- 
vember 4,  1646,  on  a  later  day  than  the  appointment 
of  the  latter  fast.  That  law  was  the  most  important 
of  early  times  on  the  subject,  and  became  the  common 
property  of  New  England.     It  reads  as  follows :  — 

"  Wherever  the  ministry  of  the  word  is  established,  accord- 
ing to  the  order  of  the  Gospel  throughout  this  Jurisdiction  : 
Every  Person  shall  duely  resort,  and  attend  therunto,  respec- 
tively on  the  Lords  dayes,  &  upon  such  publick  fast  dayes,  & 
dayes  of  thanksgiving,  as  are  to  be  generally  observed  by  ap- 
pointment of  Authority.  And  if  any  person  within  this  Juris- 
diction shall  without  just  &  necessary  cause,  withdraw  himselfe 
from  the  publick  ministry  of  the  Word,  after  due  meanes  of  con- 
viction used,  he  shall  forfeit  for  his  absence  from  every  such 
publick  meeting  five  shillings  :  And  all  such  offenses  may  be 
heard  &  determined  from  time  to  time  by  any  one  or  more 
Magistrates."  ^ 

1  Mass.  Col  Bee,  ii.  229. 

2  Colonial  Laws  of  Mass. ^  1672;  Whitmore's  Reprint,  p.  43. 


LAWS  AND  CUSTOMS.  413 

This  law  was  taken  bodily  by  Mr.  Ludlow  into  the 
Code  of  Laws  adopted  in  Connecticut  in  May,  1650, 
and  also  appears  in  the  New  Haven  Code  of  16 5 5.^ 
It  therefore  became  the  law,  under  which  the  sanctity 
of  fast  and  thanksgiving  days  was  maintained,  wher- 
ever they  were  observed  in  New  England.  Attendance 
upon  such  services  was  compulsory;  and  though  it 
contained  no  provision  forbidding  work  and  amuse- 
ments, these  diversions  were  understood  to  be  prohib- 
ited as  upon  the  Lord's  Day.  As  to  Massachusetts, 
however,  after  the  establishment  of  the  provincial 
government,  the  laws  relating  to  the  keeping  of  the 
Sabbath  did  not  apply  to  fast  and  thanksgiving 
days,  that  clause  being  omitted  from  them  thereafter. 
The  proclamation  contained  a  sufficient  prohibition  in 
the  words  "  all  servile  labor  is  forbidden."  In  1682 
the  Plymouth  Colony  enacted  a  law  "  that  none  shall 
p'^sume  to  attend  servill  worke  or  labour  or  attend 
any  sports  on  such  dayes  as  are  or  shalbe  appointed 
by  the  Court  for  humiliation  by  fasting  and  prayer 
or  for  pubUcke  Thanksgiueing  on  penalty  of  five 
shillings."  ^  The  effect  in  both  colonies  was  the  same. 
No  labors  were  performed  upon  such  days.  New 
Hampshire  followed  the  example  of  Massachusetts. 

In  Connecticut,  where  the  colonial  laws  under- 
went less  modification,  the  original  law  of  1650  con- 
tinued in  force  for  many  years.  It  is  found  in  the  re- 
vision of  1702  and  the  reprint  of  1715,  with  the  added 
provision  that  complaints  under  it  must  be  made 
within  one  month  of  the  offense.  In  the  revision  of 
1750,  this  law  was  combined  with  another  relating  to 

^  Conn.  Col.  Rec,  i.  524 ;  New  Haven  Col.  Bee,  ii.  588. 
2  Fly.  Col  Rec,  xi.  258. 


414         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

the  Lord's  Day,  the  same  which  Massachusetts  had 
enacted  in  1692  and  New  Hampshire  in  1700,  whence 
also  Connecticut  derived  it ;  and  this  was  done  in  such 
a  manner  that  fast  and  thanksgiving  days  were 
brought  under  the  prohibition  against  labor  and 
amusements,  and  attendance  upon  the  services  was 
no  longer  compulsory.  The  amended  form  is  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

"  That  no  Tradesman,  Artificer,  Labourer,  or  other  Person 
whatsoever,  shall  upon  the  Land  or  Water,  do  or  exercise  any 
Labour,  Business  or  Work  of  their  Ordinary  Callings,  or  of  any 
other  kind  whatsoever,  (Works  of  Necessity  and  Mercy  only 
excepted)  Nor  use  any  Game,  Sport,  Play,  or  Recreation  on  the 
Lord's  Day,  or  Day  of  Public  Fasting  or  Thanksgiving,  or  any 
part  thereof,  on  pain  that  every  Person  so  Offending,  shall  for 
every  offence  Forfeit  the  Sum  of  Ten  Shillings."  ^ 

It  is  evident,  from  the  very  fact  that  these  days 
were  included  in  the  law  of  the  Sabbath,  that  at  this 
time  they  were  observed  as  holy  days.  Probably  there 
had  been  little  occasion  for  the  law.  The  few,  here 
and  there,  who  were  prosecuted  for  labor,  only  meant 
by  their  violatipn  to  show  their  dislike  for  the  govern- 
ment or  these  Puritan  days  when  they  preferred  those 
recognized  in  the  Church  of  England.  On  the  whole 
they  were  then  reverently  observed ;  but  after  the 
American  Revolution,  partly  because  such  occasions 
had  been  appropriated  to  party  uses,  and  partly  be- 
cause of  a  decline  in  the  veneration  felt  for  them, 
there  was  a  manifest  tendency  to  disregard  them  both 
by  labor  and  recreation.  Hence  a  new  law  was  made 
in  Connecticut  in  1791,  having  entire  reference  to 
the  subject,  and  which  is  certainly  conclusive  evidence 

1  Kevision  of  1750,  p.  139.  Cf .  revision  of  1702,  pp.  30,  103, 104,  and 
same  in  reprint  of  1715. 


LAWS  AND   CUSTOMS.  415 

against  the  supposition  that  they  had  become  mere  hol- 
idays.    The  following  is  the  text  of  that  law  :  — 

"  That  on  the  Days  appointed  for  public  Fasting  or  Thanks- 
giving by  Proclamation  of  the  Governour  of  this  State  :  all  Per- 
sons residing  within  this  State,  shall  abstain  from  every  kind  of 
servile  Labour,  and  Recreation,  Works  of  Necessity  and  Mercy 
excepted  ;  and  any  Person  who  shall  be  guilty  of  a  Breach  of 
this  Act,  being  duly  convicted  thereof,  shall  be  fined  in  a  Sum, 
not  exceeding  Two  Dollars,  nor  less  than  One  Dollar.  Pro- 
vided this  Act  shall  not  be  construed  to  prevent  public  Posts 
and  Stages  from  Travelling  on  said  Days."  ^ 

This  was  the  final  attempt  to  preserve  by  law  the 
ancient  sanctity  of  these  days.  Soon  afterward  the 
annual  fast  in  Connecticut  was  changed  to  Good  Fri- 
day, and  possibly  one  great  reason  for  this  law  thereby 
became  invalid,  for  it  has  been  suspected  that  it  was 
revived  merely  to  afford  an  opportunity  to  bring  into 
court  some  Episcopalians  who  would  not  regard  such 
days,  especially  during  Easter  week.  It  soon  became 
a  dead  letter,  however,  and  was  repealed  in  1833, 
with  the  proviso  that  such  action  should  not  be  con- 
strued as  restricting  in  any  way  the  governor  from 
recommending  fast  and  thanksgivmg  days  as  before. 

The  purpose  of  all  these  laws  is  evident.  Such 
occasions  were  days  of  worship,  and  it  was  necessary 
to  protect  them  from  irreligious  influences.  Not  until 
the  public  sentiment  had  changed  as  to  the  solemn 
character  of  the  church  services  did  the  law  relax  its 
efforts  to  preserve  order  and  quiet  in  the  community. 
They  show  how  the  sabbatical  conception  prevailed  at 
first  unchallenged;  how  in  the  course  of  time  this  fea- 
ture was  shaken  off,  and  a  civil  holiday  remained  upon 
which  the  state  recommended  reKgious  exercises ;  and 
1  Revision  of  1796,  p.  177. 


416  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

how  finally  the  people  were  left  to  make  of  these  days 
what  they  would  and  the  churches  what  they  could. 
Moreover,  they  mdicate  approximately  the  dates  of 
these  changes,  —  the  decline  of  the  fast  and  the  evo- 
lution of  the  modern  autumn  festival  from  the  eccle- 
siastical thanksgiving. 

Concerning  the  customs  which  have  regulated  the 
observance  of  fast  days,  there  is  little  to  be  said. 
There  was  for  many  years  no  reason  to  change  its 
sabbatical  character.  Until  the  present  century  two 
services  were  maintained  in  most  communities,  and 
these  occupied  the  major  portion  of  the  day.  In  early 
times,  indeed  down  to  the  general  breaking  up  of  old 
customs  by  the  Eevolutionary  war,  the  people  usu- 
ally abstained  from  food  until  after  the  second  ser- 
vice, —  a  very  ancient  interpretation  of  this  duty. 
Then,  as  the  day  declined,  they  sat  down  to  some 
simple  repast  of  cold  meats,  bread  or  "hasty  pud- 
ding," and  milk.  Many  are  now  living  who  remember 
when  fasting  was  commonly  practiced.  One  of  the 
first  signs  of  the  changing  sentiment  as  to  the  day  was 
the  indulgence  in  visiting,  walking  abroad  in  the 
fields,  inspection  of  barns  and  herds,  discussion  among 
neighbors  of  plans  for  the  planting,  much  of  which 
the  spring  season  suggested.  The  first  settlers  would 
never  have  tolerated  this,  but  after  a  century  it  was 
thought  to  be  permissible.  It  was  made  also  a  con- 
venient time  for  church  meetings,  a  custom  which 
grew  out  of  certain  disciplinary  proceedings  and  con- 
fessions fostered  by  humiliation.  Other  gatherings 
were  a  natural  consequence.  Long  before  labor  was 
permitted,  the  day  was  set  apart  by  many  for  such 
political  or  semi-religious  tasks  as  they  would  not  per- 


LAWS  AND   CUSTOMS.  417 

form  on  Sundays  and  had  no  time  for  during  week 
days.  Even  amusements,  when  of  such  a  nature  as 
not  to  interfere  with  the  rights  of  a  community,  were 
allowed  before  "  servile  work,"  which  the  proclama- 
tion especially  stigmatized.  When  worn  out  as  a  holy 
day,  it  remained  as  a  holiday,  to  which  latter  charac- 
ter all  modern  laws  pertain.  Yet  the  present  general 
and  popular  disregard  for  the  occasion  by  amuse- 
ments of  all  sorts  has  grown  up  within  the  past 
fifty  years.  It  must  be  allowed,  too,  that,  so  long 
as  the  day  is  recognized  by  the  state  and  proclaimed 
by  the  governor,  they  are,  to  say  the  least,  in  bad 
taste. 

The  New  England  fast  day  was  therefore  a  very 
plain  affair,  having  none  of  those  fantastic  and  inter- 
esting practices  which  were  connected  with  similar 
holy  days  in  England.  It  might  have  been  otherwise, 
but  for  the  prejudice  against  aU  such  days  which  con- 
tinued until  long  after  emigration  had  ceased.  A  few 
ancient  customs  can  be  traced  here  and  there  among 
those  who  owned  the  Church  of  England.  After  the 
theocratic  system  broke  down,  such  persons  became 
more  bold,  and  they  may  fairly  be  suspected  of  de- 
lighting to  parade  their  affection  for  Enghsh  customs 
upon  such  days  as  Christmas,  Easter,  and  Whitsun- 
day. The  baking  of  pancakes  at  Shrovetide  was  very 
unsavory  to  the  thoroughbred  New  Englander.  It 
was  otherwise  with  a  Churchman. 

"  But  hark,  I  hear  the  Pancake-bell, 
And  fritters  make  a  gallant  smell." 

Such  fancies  crept  in  and  occasionally  showed  them- 
selves, especially  at  Christmas  time.  It  was  because 
of  the  tendency  to  unseemly  commemoration  of  these 


418         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

festivals  that  the  forefathers  passed  the  law  prohibit- 
ing any  from  "forbearing  labour"  and  "feasting" 
upon  them,  —  a  law  which  outlived  the  first  comers. 
Against  these  "  heathen  vanities  "  Increase  Mather 
directed  his  treatise  entitled  "  A  Testimony  against 
several  Prophane  and  Superstitious  Customs,"  printed 
in  1687.  Even  in  the  early  years  of  the  eighteenth 
century  men  like  Samuel  Sewall  struck  these  days  from 
the  almanac,  and  would  not  adjourn  court  for  Christ- 
mas, though  many  were  then  more  tolerant  of  them, 
even  to  some  extent  observing  them.i  In  1712  Cot- 
ton Mather  ventured  to  preach  a  Christmas  sermon, 
probably  the  first  by  a  Puritan  divine  in  New 
England,  in  which,  by  the  bye,  he  condemned  riotous 
proceedings.  Of  course  they  detested  the  May  Day, 
with  its  masks  and  processions.  In  1686  Increase 
Mather  said  of  it :  "  It  is  an  abominable  shame  that 
any  persons  in  a  land  of  such  light  and  purity  as 
New  England  has  been,  shoidd  have  the  face  to  speak 
or  think  of  practicing  so  vile  a  piece  of  heathenism." 
Yet  such  disapproval  shows  that  a  few  did  keep  up 
their  ancient  customs;  and  probably  by  this  means 
some  practices  which  had  been  most  prominent  dur- 
ing the  English  Lenten  season  became  associated 
with  the  fast  day.  It  may  have  perpetuated  an  af- 
fection for  Good  Friday  to  fare  on  bacon  and  eggs, 
and  some  doubtless  did  so  on  fast  days  without  ap- 
preciating the  significance  of  the  fact,  merely  because 
others  set  the  example.  The  willow,  which  had  long 
been  an  emblem  of  mourning  in  England,  became 
such  here ;  and,  after  a  century,  even  pious  Puritans 
took  occasion  to  cut  a  sprig  of  it  when  abroad,  less  in 

1  Sewall's  Diary,  ii,  91,  230;  iii.  315. 


LAWS  AND   CUSTOMS.  419 

token  of  their  humiliation  than  because  it  had  some- 
how become  customary.  So  they  came  to  plant  them 
over  graves  or  cut  them  upon  tombstones  as  their 
forefathers  would  not  have  done  on  account  of  the 
superstition. 

It  was  impossible  to  resist  the  hilarious  proceedings 
on  the  Fifth  of  November, — "  Guy  Fawkes's  Day." 
They  dared  not  if  they  would.  The  Royal  Commis- 
sioners in  1665  had  proposed  the  permanent  establish- 
ment of  the  5th  of  November,  the  29th  of  May,  and 
the  30th  of  January,  —  the  first  two  as  thanksgivings, 
the  last  as  a  fast.  ^  Only  the  first  was  celebrated  to 
any  extent,  and  that  because  it  was  "  Pope's  Day,"  — 
a  suitable  time,  it  was  thought,  for  mocking  pageants 
and  bonfires.  The  Church  of  England  kept  it  with 
religious  services,  but  it  never  became  popular  except 
with  riotous  youths.  Still  the  bonfire  and  cannon- 
firing,  by  this  means,  became  later  a  form  of  cele- 
brating thanksgiving,  especially  during  and  after  tlu 
Revolution.  Such  demonstrations  had  been  tolerated 
a  century  before  this  on  Guy  Fawkes's  Day,  and 
some  other  English  holidays,  though  the  fathers  pro- 
tested against  them  if  these  chanced  to  fall  on  the 
Sabbath.  We  can  understand  how  English  ships  in 
port  would  think  it  proper  to  commemorate  the  New 
England  thanksgiving  in  the  same  manner.  At  all 
events  they  did  so,  and  certain  divines  uttered  their 
protest  against  it.  Upon  one  occasion,  in  1662,  a 
public  thanksgiving  for  a  good  harvest  notwithstand- 
ing a  drought  chanced  to  be  appointed  on  the  5th  of 
November,  and  then  there  was  a  combination  of  re- 
ligious services  and  bonfires  which  could  not  have  been 

1  Mass.  Col.  Bee,  iv.  pt.  2.  p.  212. 


420         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

agreeable  to  all,^  though  they  did  the  same  thing  in 
1667,  two  years  after  the  proposal  of  the  Royal  Com- 
missioners, which  might  have  been  one  cause  for  it.  ^ 
The  celebration  of  the  Fifth  of  November  was  at  its 
height  in  England  about  that  time,  and  was  afterwards 
revived  in  connection  with  the  wars  against  France. 
It  was  the  same  in  New  England,  and  so  great  was 
the  disturbance  and  danger  of  the  customary  riotous 
pageants  that  it  became  necessary  to  enact  laws  pro- 
hibiting them.2  As  the  Revolution  drew  near  they 
died  out  altogether,  and  whatever  customs  were  ap- 
propriate passed  over  to  the  Thanksgiving  Day,  or  the 
Fourth  of  July. 

The  customs  which  have  clustered  round  the  New 
England  Thanksgiving  are  by  far  the  most  interesting. 
An  autumn  harvest  festival  has  a  relation  to  social 
life  which  generates  them.  Since  the  Pilgrim  Fathers 
celebrated  their  feast  at  Plymouth,  the  same  forces 
which  then  inspired  it  have  been  at  work,  gradually 
creating  a  festival  peculiarly  adapted  to  preserve  the 
savor  of  early  New  England  life.  In  this  respect  it 
is  unique  among  our  hohdays.  Others  are  of  later  date. 
They  do  not  reach  back  into  those  adventurous  experi- 
ences in  the  wilderness,  nor  introduce  us  to  the  house- 
holds of  our  simple,  hearty,  pious  forefathers  as  this 
does.  Here  alone  do  we  meet  with  customs  which  can 
claim  originality  and  antiquity,  more  wholesome  if  less 
fantastic  than  those  which  have  made  England's  holi- 

^  Felt  was  led  to  give  quite  an  erroneous  impression  concerning 
this  "  Pope's  Day,"  because  he  overlooked  the  fact  that  it  was  also  a 
public  thanksgiving.  Annals  of  Salem,  ii.  45 ;  Frothingham's  Hist, 
of  Charlestown,  p.  204. 

2  Acts  and  Resolves,  iii.  647,  664,  997  ;  Am,  Antiq.  Soc.  Coll.,  v.  p. 


LAWS  AND  CUSTOMS.  421 

days  a  blessing  to  her  people.  The  harvest  festival 
was  developed  by  home  Uf  e.  Its  power  is  social  rather 
than  religious.  The  feast  has  been  from  the  first  the 
sustaining  element,  not  so  much  on  its  own  account, 
as  because  it  furnished  the  occasion  for  family  gather- 
ings, and  this  we  must  follow  in  tracing  the  growth 
of  customs.  The  germ  is  found  in  such  social  repasts 
as  we  have  witnessed  among  the  Pilgrims  in  Holland 
and  the  Scituate  flock,  which  we  have  noted  as  kept 
after  the  Pequot  war,  and  which  were  officially  rec- 
ognized in  1645  by  the  Westminster  Assembly  of 
Divines  in  the  "  Directory  for  Public  Worship."  It 
was  a  seed  that  fell  into  good  ground  among  those 
who  were  dependent  upon  harvests  and  were  stripped 
of  their  ancient  holidays.  So  it  grew,  thriving  espe- 
cially in  the  Plymouth  Colony.  As  the  household 
became  the  self-sustaining  unit  of  their  life,  it  was 
better  that  the  family  should  feast  together,  rather 
than  that  the  richer  should  invite  the  poorer,  or  that 
they  should  divide  into  three  companies  as  Lothrop's 
church  did.  So  in  a  few  years  this  became  a  dis- 
tinctive feature  of  thanksgiving  days.  At  the  same 
time  it  was  no  such  feast  as  interfered  with  the  reli- 
gious features  of  the  day,  which  were  dominant,  par- 
ticularly in  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  and  in 
Connecticut.  Amusements  were  contrary  to  the  law 
everywhere.  The  Puritan  family  met  at  the  noontime 
meal  in  a  spirit  of  deep  gratitude,  and  worship  was 
the  expression  of  their  feelings  rather  than  recreation. 
They  would  not  have  thought  of  indulging  in  those 
hilarious  customs  which  arose  after  a  century,  only 
to  be  rebuked  by  their  ministers,  and  at  last  became 
common  because  the  Puritan  fervor  had  waned.     That 


422         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

which  is  now  usually  esteemed  as  the  early  celebration 
of  thanksgiving  does  not  date  back  into  the  lives  of 
the  first  comers.  It  was  no  sucA  occasion  as  that  fes- 
tival week  at  Plymouth  in  1621  has  led  many  writers 
to  suppose.  The  feast  itself  was  not  an  elaborate 
affair,  —  no  Puritan  meal  was.  Extra  fare  was  pro- 
vided, perhaps  occasionally  a  wild  turkey  or  a  haunch 
of  venison, 1  and  there  was  an  assembly  of  the  family, 
with  sometimes  invited  guests,  but  they  did  not  aban- 
don themselves  to  feasting  nor  forget  that  the  day  was 
holy  unto  the  Lord.  The  father  was  wont  to  read 
aloud  some  thanksgiving  sermon,  either  the  evening 
before  in  preparation  for  the  day,  or  as  the  family 
gathered  about  the  fireside  after  the  second  service. 
The  theme  of  conversation  was  the  mercies  of  God  to 
the  first  settlers,  —  such  reminiscences  as  we  meet  with 
from  the  pen  of  Johnson,  Roger  Clap,  and  Mather, 
—  and  there  were  recitals  of  providential  deliverances, 
which  the  hero  might  well  have  made  thrilling  stories 

^  An  interesting"  incident,  professing  to  relate  to  a  thanksgiving 
dinner,  was  recorded  by  Rev.  Lawrence  Conant,  of  Danvers,  in  1714  as 
follows :  —  ^ 

*'  When  ye  services  at  ye  meeting  house  were  ended  ye  council  and 
other  dignitaries  were  entertained  at  ye  house  of  Mr.  Epes,  on  ye  hill 
near  by,  and  we  had  a  bountiful  Thanksgiving  dinner  with  bear's 
meat  and  venison,  the  last  of  which  was  a  fine  buck,  shot  in  ye  woods 
near  by.     Ye  bear  was  killed  in  Lynn  woods  near  Reading. 

"  After  ye  blessing  was  craved  by  Mr.  Garrich  of  Wrentham,  word 
came  that  ye  buck  was  shot  on  ye  Lord's  day  by  Pequot,  an  Indian, 
who  came  to  Mr.  Epes  with  a  lye  in  his  mouth  like  Ananias  of  old. 

"  Ye  council  therefore  refused  to  eat  ye  venison,  but  it  was  after- 
ward decided  that  Pequot  should  receive  40  stripes  save  one,  for  lying 
and  profaning  ye  Lord's  day,  restore  Mr.  Epes  ye  cost  of  ye  deer,  and 
considering  this  a  just  and  righteous  sentence  on  ye  sinful  heathen, 
and  that  a  blessing  had  been  craved  on  ye  meat,  ye  council  all  par- 
took of  it  but  Mr.  Shepard,  whose  conscience  was  tender  on  ye  point 
of  ye  venison." 


LAWS  AND   CUSTOMS.  423 

of  hairbreadth  escapes,  to  be  remembered  by  the 
children,  even  if  they  forgot  the  moral.  The  procla- 
mations themselves  encouraged  the  people  to  such  oc- 
cupations, being  a  presentation  of  their  causes  for 
gratitude,  and  possibly  those  extended  dissertations 
may  have  grown  out  of  this  ancient  custom.  Indeed, 
there  were  generally  two  services  on  the  day  for  nearly 
a  century,  and  the  feast,  crowded  in  between  them, 
had  no  great  chance  to  expand.  It  finally  made  war 
against  the  second  service  and  overcame  it.  We  find 
Samuel  Sewall  in  1721  discussing  the  matter  with 
Colonel  Townsend  in  the  Council  Chamber  at  Boston, 
and  the  latter  would  not  "  move  a  jot  towards  having 
two,"  though  he  would  consent  on  that  particular  oc- 
casion.i  Evidently  the  colonel  was  of  those  who  felt 
that  the  latter  part  of  the  day  should  be  devoted  to 
social  enjoyments  in  the  home,  giving  more  time  to 
the  feast,  which  had  been  a  feature  in  Se wall's  family 
life  for  at  least  twenty-five  years,  many  instances  be- 
ing noted  in  his  diary.  Even  before  this  the  evening 
exercise  had  been  put  at  a  later  hour  than  usual,  or 
in  some  towns,  where  the  people  found  it  inconvenient 
to  return  to  it,  altogether  abandoned.  At  first  even 
special  thanksgivings,  whatever  the  time  of  year,  were 
honored  by  a  dinner,  but  after  the  days  became  an- 
nual, and  more  particularly  associated  with  the  harvest, 
the  high  festival  was  reserved  for  the  autumn.  The 
bounties  of  the  season  favored  the  feast,  and  that  in 
turn  warmed  the  social  circle.  So  it  came  about  that 
ere  the  first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  had 
passed,  the  autumn  harvest  festival  was  a  fully  grown 
and  estabhshed  institution.     As  they  might  have  ex- 

^  Sewall's  Diary,  iii.  294. 


424         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

pected,  advantage  was  taken  of  this  social  license, 
particularly  among  such  as  made  the  inn  their  even- 
ing resort  and  had  a  fondness  for  the  sizzling  "  flip." 
A  thanksgiving,  too,  which  commemorated  a  victory 
in  war,  offered  special  inducements  to  celebrate  by 
noisy  demonstrations.  Rev.  Daniel  Wadsworth,  of 
Hartford,  in  his  manuscript  sermon  preached  July 
25,  1745,  closes  with  this  caution :  "  Take  heed  y* 
after  y®  public  exercise  of  y®  day  is  over  y^none  of 
you  run  into  those  follies  and  indecencies  y*  are 
unbecoming  such  a  solemnity  as  this,  let  not  this 
solemnity  be  dishonored  by  any  disorders  committed 
on  this  day  or  in  y®  evening  following,  let  there 
be  no  carousing  at  publick  houses  nor  unseemly 
noises  or  clamors  in  y®  streets."  ^  This  wa"S  the  com- 
mon attitude  of  the  ministers  at  the  time,  but  such 
demonstrations  occurred,  nevertheless.  The  harvest 
thanksgiving  was  not  so  liable  to  them.  It  was  a  quiet 
day,  the  service  at  the  meeting-house  in  the  morning 
being  attended  by  all,  and  the  feast,  followed  by 
social  fireside  pleasures,  filling  the  remainder  of  the 
day.  After  the  Revolution,  —  which  was  the  great- 
est force  of  the  century  for  the  development  of  our 
social  life,  —  these  latter  features  were  very  greatly 
expanded.  In  some  respects  they  were  liberalized. 
The  farmer  and  his  grown-up  sons  thought  it  a  proper 
time  to  hunt  the  wolf  which  had  raided  his  flock.  In 
the  home,  games  were  indulged  in  by  the  younger 
members  of  the  family,  such  as  "  Hunt  the  slipper," 
"  Fox  and  geese,"  and  "  Bhnd  man's  buff."  Pilgrim- 
ages to  the  old  home,  which  had  long  been  custom- 
ary, were  more  highly  regarded.  Some  thought  even 
1  MS.  Ser.  in  Conn.  Hist.  Soc. 


LAWS  AND   CUSTOMS.  425 

then  that  too  much  pleasure  was  a  desecration  of 
the  clay.  They  did  not  see  how  it  was  all  the  work 
of  healthy  and  natural  forces.  That  had  survived 
which  was  fittest.  The  sabbatical  thanksgiving  of 
the  forefathers  could  not  have  lived.  It  could  never 
have  been  made  such  a  festival  as  Christmas,  for  the 
truth  was  lacking.  Their  calamities  and  adventures 
in  the  wilderness  were  over.  So  the  family  conse- 
crated the  day  anew  to  its  own  religious  and  social 
uses,  honoring  alike  the  worship  of  the  Puritan  and 
the  feast  of  the  Pilgrims  ;  and,  as  years  pass,  it  be- 
comes more  and  more  evident  that  the  family  life 
alone,  which  has  saved  the  day,  can  preserve  it  for 
coming  generations. 

There  are  those  now  living  who  have  heard  their 
fathers  tell  of  the  New  England  Thanksgiving  Day  a 
hundred  years  ago.  In  the  great  red  farmhouse  on 
the  hill,  preparations  were  begun  long  before  the  day. 
The  turkey  that  stalked  about  the  dooryard  had  been 
watched  with  hungry  eyes,  and  fattened  with  urgent 
care.  Pumpkins  had  been  brought  from  the  cornfield 
to  sun  themselves  on  the  woodpile.  Ah !  it  was  a  sure 
sigii  of  the  day's  approach ;  and  they  might  have  de- 
fended their  right  to  be  there  without  being  laughed 
at  by  the  ancient  chronicler's  words  :  "  Let  no  man 
make  a  jest  at  pumpkins,  for  with  this  fruit  the  Lord 
was  pleased  to  feed  his  people  to  their  good  content 
till  corne  and  cattel  were  increased."  ^  A  goodly 
supply  of  all  garden  vegetables  was  at  hand.  Ap- 
ples and  pears,  the  best  in  the  orchard,  had  been 
gathered  and  hidden  away  in  the  dark  to  mellow. 
Alas  for  the  feast,  if  there  was  not  molasses  enough 

^  Johnson's  Wonder-Working  Providence,  p.  56. 


426         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

to  be  had ;  there  could  be  none  without  it.^  Stores  of 
raisins  and  citron  had  been  laid  in,  so  there  was  some- 
thing for  the  girls  to  do,  while  the  boys  looked  after 
the  popcorn,  which  had  been  seasoning  in  the  wood- 
shed chamber,  or  picked  up  wahiuts  under  the  old 
shagbark-tree  in  the  pasture.  Then  there  was  a  deal 
of  work  necessary  within  the  house,  —  the  wedding 
china  to  be  brought  out,  the  brasses  all  around  to  be 
polished,  especially  the  ancestral  andirons,  and  the 
spare  chambers  to  be  set  in  order,  with  extemporized 
beds  in  every  available  corner,  —  all  ready  for  the 
home-coming.  Grandpa  and  grandma  were  the  reign- 
ing sovereigns,  and  their  family  was  a  royal  one.  A 
thorough-going  New  Englander  in  those  days  had 
sons  enough  to  use  up  in  the  christening  all  the  favor- 
ite names  of  the  apostles,  and  then  he  had  to  draw  on 
the  prophets.  How  they  flocked  home !  Peter,  the 
eldest,  and  his  family  live  on  the  old  homestead. 
James  is  up  from  the  city  with  his  city-bred  wife  and 
children,  —  but  what  is  a  palace  compared  to  the  old 
home  for  a  Thanksgiving  !  Jeremiah  has  made  a  pil- 
grimage thither  from  the  far  West,  which  might  then 
have  been  in  "  York  State."  Matthew,  the  custom- 
house officer,  and  Ezra,  the  college  professor,  are 
there,  but  "  riches  and  larnin  "  give  no  prior  titles  at 
that  court.  The  night  before  Thanksgiving  they  are 
all  there,  and  the  daughters-in-law  have  stowed  the 
little  ones  away  in  big  feather-beds,  a  dozen,  more  or 
less,  in  each,  like  sardines,  and  the  youngsters  have 

^  The  town  of  Colchester,  Conn.,  in  1705,  voted  to  put  off  the 
Thanksgiving  from  the  first  to  the  second  Thursday  in  November ; 
and  the  tradition  is  well  supported  that  the  cause  was  a  delay  in 
receiving  a  supply  of  molasses.  —  Barber's  Conn.  Hist.  Coll.,  p.  305. 


LAWS  AND   CUSTOMS.  427 

gone  to  their  pillow-fight  in  the  attic  chambers. 
Around  the  huge  open  fireplace,  by  the  light  of  its 
burning  logs,  those  boys  of  the  olden  time  spin  their 
yarns  of  childhood's  days  and  crack  their  jokes,  till 
the  laughter  changes  to  tears  and  they  are  ready  for 
the  evening  prayer  and  the  tender  good-night.  And 
then,  that  Thanksgiving  morning!  It  is  clear  and 
cold,  perhaps  the  first  snow  upon  the  ground,  for 
Boreas  was  wont  to  contribute  something  unusual 
before  the  days  of  weather  reports.  All  the  family 
are  at  church,  —  it  was  expected,  and  the  proper 
thing,  for  family  religion  was  on  dress  parade,  —  and 
the  gray-haired  parson,  regardless  of  the  passing  time, 
rises  to  the  occasion  in  fervent  words  of  gratitude  to 
God  for  his  abundant  mercies.  Then  comes  the  din- 
ner, skillfiJly  managed  by  the  maiden  aunt,  God  bless 
her !  —  an  indispensable  condensation  of  virtue  on 
such  occasions,  —  a  dinner  not  so  elaborate  as  bounti- 
ful, not  so  elegant  as  healtliful.  How  the  children's 
eyes  dance !  even  those  of  the  babe  in  the  big  board 
cradle,  who  has  no  part  nor  lot  in  it.  The  turkey, 
of  course,  is  there,  crisp  and  brown,  as  only  one  can 
be  which  has  been  slowly  roasted  before  the  fire,  and 
basted  from  the  dripping-pan  beneath.  Vegetables 
of  all  sorts  load  the  table,  delicacies,  too,  that  have 
been  waiting  long  for  that  hour,  and  nunierous  mys- 
teries of  their  old-fashioned  culinary  art.  Then  there 
are  pies  of  sundry  kinds,  the  chicken-pie  among  them, 
but  best  of  all,  —  and  can  we  trust  our  feelings 
to  mention  them,  —  genuine  pumpkin-pies  baked  in 
square  tins,  having  only  four  corner  pieces  to  each ! 
Our  Quaker  poet  remembered  them  when  he  wrote 
his  lines,  — 


428  FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

*'  Ah !  on  Thanksg-iving  day,  when  from  East  and  from  West, 
From  North  and  from  South  come  the  pilgrim  and  guest, 
When  the  gray-haired  New-Englander  sees  round  his  hoard 
The  old  hroken  links  of  aifection  restored. 
When  the  care-wearied  man  seeks  his  mother  once  more, 
And  the  worn  matron  smiles  where  the  girl  smiled  before, 
What  moistens  the  lip  and  what  brightens  the  eye  ? 
What  calls  back  the  past,  like  the  rich  Pumpkin  pie  ?  '* 

The  feast  is  over  at  last,  and  while  the  women-folks 
clear  the  table,  the  grandsire,  his  sons,  and  grandsons 
make  the  round  of  barns  and  sheds  and  pens,  to  re- 
new old  acquaintance  with  their  favorites.  Happiness 
reigns  among  the  youth.  They  romp  over  the  hay, 
play  hide-and-seek  around  the  buildings,  or  take  a 
sleigh-ride  in  the  straw-filled  sled.  Then,  as  the  even- 
ing shadows  fall,  there  is  a  grand  assembly  about  the 
fireplace.  How  merrily  the  corn  sputters  in  the  pop- 
per I  How  familiar  the  sound  of  nuts  cracked  on  the 
hearthstone !  What  apples,  and  competitions  in  par- 
ing them  without  a  break  in  the  golden  shaving  !  The 
cider  flows  from  the  great  earthenware  pitcher,  —  it 
never  became  old  in  those  days.  There  are  genealo- 
gies to  be  explained  as  Ezra  writes  up  the  record  in 
the  family  Bible,  and  sombre  portraits  to  be  honored, 
which  look  down  approvingly  upon  the  scene.  It  is 
grandpa's  patriotic  duty  to  rehearse  again  the  thrill- 
ing story  of  Bunker  Hill,  in  full  view  of  the  sacred 
flint-lock,  hanging  from  the  deer-horns  over  the  man- 
telpiece. By  and  by  the  young  heads  begin  to  nod, 
and  the  tallow-dips  burn  low,  warning  them  that  they 
must  separate  soon,  —  too  soon.  It  may  not  come 
again,  the  same  Thanksgiving  joy,  —  not  to  all ;  and 
the  sad  suspicion  solemnizes  the  family  circle,  as  they 
all  bow  there,  and,  like  the  sons  of  Jacob,  receive  the 


LAWS  AND  CUSTOMS.  429 

sire's  blessing.  Ah !  those  were  "  good  old  days  "  in- 
deed. May  generations  yet  unborn  cherish  the  pious 
flavor  of  that  household  festival !  He  who  for  some 
Kght  pleasure  forsakes  it  has  dishonored  the  Lares  of 
his  ancestors.  The  descendant  of  New  England,  be 
he  there  still,  on  the  Western  prairie,  or  across  the  sea, 
will  evermore  turn  once  a  year,  with  tender  feelings, 
toward  the  scene,  and  in  so  doing  he  pays  his  tribute 
to  one  of  the  grandest  conceptions  of  family  life  known 
in  history. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THE  PRINTER   AND   THE   PROCLAMATION. 

The  student  of  American  history  is  aware  that  one 
of  the  most  interesting  fields  of  research  is  offered  in 
collections  of  broadsides.  A  single  sheet  of  print 
oftentimes  contained  news  not  to  be  found  elsewhere. 
In  time  of  war  it  was  the  extra  of  the  weekly  news- 
paper. It  announced  events  and  circulated  calimmies 
as  an  irresponsible  person.  Programmes,  ballads,  po- 
litical satires,  and  articles  of  faith  were  thus  given  to 
the  public.  The  single  sheet  was  most  perishable,  on 
account  of  its  own  unprotected  form,  and  was  also 
most  convenient  for  wrapping-paper.  Some  of  them 
were  crammed  into  the  Revolutionary  musket,  and 
probably  then  attained  their  highest  mission.  So  it 
happens  that  these  stray  flyers,  of  an  early  date,  are 
known  to  the  collector  as  "  excessively  rare." 

The  proclamations  for  fast  and  thanksgiving  days 
were,  during  the  early  years  of  printing,  as  now,  com- 
mitted to  this  form.  When  it  is  considered  that  they 
contained  the  action  of  a  general  court  or  a  governor 
and  council,  which  is  not  always  found  in  their  records, 
even  when  these  survive,  the  value  attaching  to  them 
is  evident.  Of  the  proclamations  issued  in  broadside 
form  prior  to  1750,  the  vast  majority  have  utterly 
perished.  A  file  made  up  from  the  collections  of  all 
the  libraries  would  be  far  from  complete,  and  it  has 
been  a  rare  experience  to  find  two  copies  of  the  same 


PRINTER  AND  PROCLAMATION.  431 

proclamation  before  the  American  Revolution.  But 
as  some  may  yet  come  to  light,  —  we  write  in  hope 
of  arresting  the  destroyer,  —  and  as  early  proclama- 
tions may  be  preserved  in  private  collections,  all  our 
remarks  must  be  taken  as  merely  a  contribution  upon 
the  subject.  We  record  such  facts  as  we  have  met 
with  in  searching  libraries  or  in  private  collections 
put  at  our  service,  to  which  doubtless  others  will  be 
able  to  add. 

The  earliest  manner  of  appointing  these  days  was 
by  a  simple  order,  briefly  stating  the  causes,  which 
was  in  writing,  and  signed  by  the  secretary  of  the 
colony.  This  was  transmitted  to  the  minister  of  each 
town,  often  by  a  special  messenger,  and  by  him  was 
read  to  the  people.  In  remote  districts  the  notice 
was  passed  from  one  to  another,  the  minister  finding 
some  mode  of  communication.  There  are  instances 
on  record  where  all  he  received  was  hearsay  informa- 
tion, and  sometimes  this  was  too  late  to  secure  a  gen- 
eral keeping  of  the  day.  In  such  a  case  he  would 
appoint  a  day  the  week  following.  Some  excused 
themselves,  if  the  day  was  impopular,  on  the  ground 
that  they  had  no  notice.  The  fast  in  Connecticut, 
April  18,  1771,  was  not  observed  in  Fairfield  County 
because  the  post-rider,  knowing,  we  suspect,  what  they 
were,  did  not  deliver  the  proclamations,  on  which  ac- 
count he  was  brought  into  court.  The  later  colonial 
proclamation  was  longer  than  the  early  order,  being 
an  expansion  of  the  causes  by  some  minister  or  pious 
layman.  Therefore,  as  it  was  at  first  comparatively 
brief,  as  the  occasions  were  frequent,  and  printing 
expensive  and  slow,  there  was  no  demand  for  putting 
them  in  print,  even  though  there  was  a  printing-press 


432  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

at  Cambridge.  But  after  forty  years  had  passed,  the 
number  of  towns  in  Massachusetts  was  greatly  in- 
creased, and  the  labor  of  making  copies  for  all  the 
clergymen  was  considerable.  Then  a  necessity  arose 
for  the  use  of  the  printing-press. 

All  these  proclamations  were  in  writing  in  Con- 
necticut until  1709.  That  year  Thomas  Short  set  up 
his  press  at  New  London,  and  it  is  believed  that  his 
first  work  was  the  fast  day  proclamation  of  June  29, 
1709,  a  facsimile  of  which  is  given  by  the  courtesy  of 
the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society.  Only  one  copy 
of  this  is  known.  It  was  issued  the  year  before  the 
date  of  "  The  Saybrook  Platform,"  —  said  to  be  the 
first  book  printed  in  Connecticut,  —  and  only  about  a 
month  and  a  half  after  his  contract  to  do  such  work 
went  into  effect.^  The  Acts  of  the  May  session  were 
certainly  not  printed  until  after  those  of  the  June  ses- 
sion, which  ended  the  11th,  and  the  latter  would  hardly 
have  anticipated  this  proclamation  relating  to  the 
expedition  against  Canada.  Between  this  time  and 
his  death,  September  27,  1712,  he  probably  printed 
about  ten  proclamations,  no  copies  of  which  are  known 
to  survive.  After  two  years  Timothy  Green  became 
his  successor,  and  the  fast  day  proclamation  Septem- 
ber 1,  1714,  may  have  been  also  his  first  work  in 
Connecticut.  A  copy  is  in  the  Massachusetts  Histori- 
cal Society.  Other  than  these  two,  no  early  Connect- 
icut broadsides  are  known  to  us,  though  for  several 
years  after  1723  the  proclamations  were  printed  in 
the  "  Boston  News-Letter,"  doubtless  from  the  broad- 
side form.  As  there  were  more  than  fifty  such  issued 
during  the  first  twenty-five  years  of  printing  in  Con- 
^  Thomas's  Hist,  of  Printing,  in  Am.  Antiq.  Soc.  Coll.,  v.  184,  185. 


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PRINTER  AND  PROCLAMATION,  433 

necticut,  the  reader  can  judge  as  to  the  rarity  of  these 
two  stray  sheets. 

In  Massachusetts  the  results  are  quite  different. 
It  cannot  be  affirmed  that  there  were  no  proclama- 
tions printed  at  Cambridge  prior  to  1670,  but  in  bills 
for  government  printing  none  are  mentioned  and  none 
of  an  earlier  date  have  been  met  with.  In  the  Ar- 
chives of  Massachusetts,  at  the  State  House  in  Bos- 
ton, there  is  preserved  a  broadside,  ordering  the  fast 
day  September  22,  1670.1  If  not  the  first  so  printed, 
very  few  could  have  preceded  it,  and  as  the  forerunner 
of  more  than  two  hundred  years  of  Massachusetts 
fast  day  broadsides,  it  is  worthy  of  its  place  in  this 
volume.  In  size  and  style  it  affords  an  interesting 
contrast  with  that  of  1893,  printed  on  the  standard 
sheet  19  by  24  inches,  with  which  the  annual  fast  day 
was  discontinued.  The  day  itself  is  mentioned  in  the 
Dorchester  church  records  and  in  Hull's  Diary.  It 
is  not  noted  in  the  Colonial  Records,  being  one  of 
many  ordered  by  the  governor  and  council.  Though 
no  printer's  name  is  attached,  the  work  was  done  by  the 
well-known  Samuel  Green,  of  Cambridge,  grandfather 
of  the  above-mentioned  Timothy  Green.  He  was  then 
printer  to  the  government,  and  this  is  proven  to  have 
been  from  his  press  by  the  headpiece,  which  was  used 
in  certain  books  having  his  imprint,  for  instance  in 
"  The  Life  and  Death  of  that  Reverend  Man  of  God, 
Mr.  Richard  Mather,"  printed  that  same  year  by  "  S. 
Green  and  M.  Johnson."  The  second  broadside 
known  is  in  the  possession  of  the  Massachusetts  His- 
torical Society.  It  is  for  a  thanksgiving,  June  29, 
1676,  and  a  facsimile  of  this  also  is  introduced  both 

^  Mass.  Arch. ,  x.  17. 


434         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

on  this  account  and  because  of  its  relation  to  the  story 
of  King  Philip's  war.  It  is  the  earliest  broadside 
known  ordering  a  thanksgiving  day,  and  a  special 
interest  attaches  to  it.  This  also  was  issued  by  the 
governor  and  council.  Another  pubhc  thanksgiving 
was  kept  that  year,  on  the  9th  of  November,  by  the 
authority  of  the  General  Court,  and  the  proclamation 
was  printed  in  broadside  form,  as  we  infer  from  the 
reprint  of  it  in  the  New  England  Register,  which 
differs  slightly  from  the  same  in  the  Colonial  Re- 
cords.i  A  search  for  the  original  broadside  has  not 
been  successful.  The  next  is  for  the  fast  June  6, 
1678,  appointed  by  the  General  Court,  also  in  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society.  In  appearance  it 
resembles  the  last,  though  the  width  of  the  print  is 
less  by  three  fourths  of  an  inch,  and  the  length  by  two 
inches.  Two  others  complete  the  list  of  those  issued 
under  the  old  charter.  One  is  for  the  reformation 
fast  December  11,  1679,  in  the  Connecticut  Histori- 
cal Society,  and  the  other  is  for  a  fast  April  21, 
1681,  in  the  American  Antiquarian  Society.  Both 
of  these  were  ordered  by  the  General  Court.  Neither 
of  them,  however,  nor  the  one  preceding,  are  men- 
tioned in  the  Colonial  Records.  Three  fasts  within 
the  space  of  three  years,  which  are  altogether  omitted 
from  the  records  of  the  body  which  appointed  them ! 
If  any  further  evidence  is  needed  to  show  how  im- 
perfect a  list  must  be  which  is  made  up  from  the 
Colonial  Records,  it  is  in  this  summary,  that  such  a 
list  would  not  include  one  of  the  days  named  in  these 
five  early  broadsides.  At  this  time  doubtless  all  the 
proclamations  were  printed.  The  Colonial  Records 
1  N,  E.  Gen.  Beg.,  ii.  201 ;  Mass.  Col.  Bee,  v.  130. 


PRINTER  AND  PROCLAMATION,  435 

furnish  proof  that  seven  were  besides  these,  and  three 
more  are  recorded  elsewhere,  evidently  from  a  print.^ 
Hence  sixteen  were  certainly  issued  in  broadside. 
During  the  years  from  1670  to  1685  at  least  fifty 
public  fast  and  thanksgiving  days  were  kept  in  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  Colony.  The  broadsides  of  only 
five  of  these  are  known  to  be  extant ;  that  is,  only  one 
out  of  ten  has  survived  the  destroyer.  All  these  were 
doubtless  printed  at  Cambridge  by  Samuel  Green. 
The  type  is  similar  to  that  of  the  Laws  and  Orders 
which  he  issued  for  the  government,  and  he  would 
most  likely  print  also  the  proclamations. 

One  feature  is  deserving  of  special  notice,  namely, 
the  impression  of  the  colonial  seal  at  the  top  of  the 
sheet,  lacking  only  in  the  first.  Of  this  two  different 
woodcuts  were  employed,  which  can  be  easily  distin- 
guished, the  Indian  in  the  earlier  having  a  feminine 
appearance  and  a  skirt  about  the  loins,  while  in  the 
later  the  Indian  wears  a  covering  of  leaves  and  the  trees 
are  larger,  evidently  pines.  The  feminine  characteristic 
was  probably  due  to  a  lack  of  skill  on  the  part  of  the 
engraver,  who  improved  his  work  in  several  respects  in 
making  the  second  cut.  In  Blake's  "  Annals  of  Dor- 
chester," "  he  that  made  the  then  Seal  or  Arms  of  y® 
Colony  "  is  said  to  have  been  John  Foster,  who  was 
an  engraver,  and  began  printing  in  Boston  in  1675, 
continuing  until  his  death  in  1681.^  This  might 
raise  the  question  whether  Foster  did  not  print  some 
of  these  broadsides.  Yet  both  cuts  were  certainly  in 
the  possession   of  Samuel   Green,  and  were  employed 

1  Mass.  Col  Bee,  v.  131,  156,  324,  371,  377,  388,  463;  Dor.  chh. 
rec,  p.  71 ;  Sewall's  Diary,  i.  84 ;  Mather's  King  Philip^ s  War,  p.  93. 

2  See  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Proceedings,  I.  vol.  x.  pp.  94-104  ;  II.  vol.  iv. 
p.  204. 


436         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

in  printing  the  Laws  and  Orders,  also  issued  on  single 
sheets.  Foster  may  have  borrowed  one  to  use  in  con- 
nection with  Mather's  "  History  of  King  Philip's  War," 
but  both  were  in  existence  before  that  work  was  pub- 
lished. The  earlier  first  appears  in  the  Colonial  Laws 
of  1672,  facing  the  title-page,  which  leads  to  the  be- 
lief that  Green  had  no  cut  when  he  printed  the  pro- 
clamation of  1670.  This  continued  in  use  till  1675-6, 
when  the  second  was  made,  and  this  can  be  traced 
down  to  1691,  being  in  Green's  possession  ten  years 
after  Foster's  death.  The  proclamation  of  1676  shows 
the  earlier  cut,  as  does  also  that  of  1678,  probably  be- 
cause the  other  was  in  use  at  the  time  in  printing  some 
law.  The  later  cut  was  employed  in  the  proclamations 
of  1679  and  1681.  We  conclude,  therefore,  that  the 
lost  proclamations  before  1672  resembled  that  of  1670, 
that  between  1672  and  1676  they  were  much  like  the 
thanksgiving  broadside  of  the  latter  year,  and  that 
thereafter,  so  long  as  the  seal  was  used,  they  were  like 
the  proclamation  of  1679. 

Four  other  Massachusetts  broadsides  are  known 
prior  to  1700.  The  first  is  for  the  fast  September 
19,  1689,  among  the  Hutchinson  manuscripts  in  the 
State  Archives,  the  day  being  ordered  by  the  council, 
which  had  resumed  authority.  The  second  is  for  the 
fast,  March  6,  1689-90,  appointed  by  the  General 
Court  met  at  Charlestown  by  adjournment  on  the  12th 
of  February ;  it  is  in  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society.  Isaac  Addington  was  then  the  secretary, 
and  his  signature  is  af&xed.  The  colonial  seal  is  of 
course  lacking,  and  the  type  is  of  another  font.  Pos- 
sibly both  these  were  printed  by  Samuel  Green,  Jr., 
of  Boston,  son  of  Samuel  of  Cambridge  and  father  of 


PRINTER  AND  PROCLAMATION,  437 

Timothy  of  New  London.  He  then  did  work  for  the 
government,  and  a  considerable  sum  was  due  him  at 
his  death  in  July,  1690.  The  third  is  a  fast  proclama- 
tion for  May  7,  1691,  by  the  council,  and  is  preserved 
in  the  State  Archives.^  It  has  been  mutilated,  appar- 
ently, by  cutting  out  the  impression  of  the  seal,  and  if 
so,  this  was  one  of  the  last  Massachusetts  broadsides 
which  bore  it.  The  cut  was  last  in  the  possession  of 
Samuel  Green,  Sr.,  and  the  type  appears  to  have  been 
his.  Perhaps  the  fire  at  Boston,  which  had  destroyed 
the  press  of  Bartholomew  Green,  successor  to  his  bro- 
ther, Samuel  Green,  Jr.,  was  the  reason  why  this  one 
was  printed  at  Cambridge.  The  fourth  is  for  the 
thanksgiving  July  14,  1692,  one  of  the  first  acts  of 
the  provincial  government.  This  is  in  the  Massachu- 
setts Historical  Society.  It  is  signed  by  the  secre- 
tary, Isaac  Addington,  and  has  no  impression  of  the 
royal  arms,  as  we  might  expect.  Benjamin  Harris, 
of  Boston,  was  at  that  time  "  Printer  to  the  Governor 
and  Council,"  and  issued  the  Acts  and  Laws  of  the 
session  which  ordered  the  day.  It  may  be  assumed 
to  have  been  from  his  press.  We  have  enumerated 
in  all  nine  early  Massachusetts  broadsides.  These 
constitute  a  group  by  themselves,  in  size,  typography, 
and  style  of  composition.  AU  savor  of  colonial  days, 
the  circumstances  under  which  they  were  kept  per- 
meating them,  and  possibly  no  two  were  drawn  up  by 
the  same  person. 

The  broadsides  of  the  provincial  period  are  very 
different  in  all  respects.  In  composition  the  procla- 
mation is  a  formal,  stilted,  official  affair.  The  days 
had  passed  into  annual  observance,  which  gave  a  same- 

^  Mass.  Archives,  xi.  58. 


438         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

ness  to  the  proclamations  extending  even  to  the  print- 
ing. From  1693  on,  for  forty  years,  Bartholomew 
Green  was  the  "  Printer  to  the  Governor  and  Council," 
and,  though  none  of  his  early  broadsides  have  been 
found,  he  would  naturally  soon  adopt  a  convenient 
size,  with  faced  type  similar  to  that  used  in  England. 
The  royal  arms,  which  he  used  in  1693  in  printing 
laws,  would  have  been  the  headpiece,  and  the  words 
"  God  save  the  King  "  would  have  been  his  conclusion. 
Strange  to  say,  we  have  not  met  with  any  collection  of 
these  broadsides  printed  before  1740.  Only  three  are 
known  to  us,  as  follows :  that  for  October  26, 1721,  a 
thanksgiving,  in  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society, 
with  a  duplicate  in  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  So- 
ciety ;  that  for  the  thanksgiving. November  28,  1723, 
in  Pilgrim  Hall,  Plymouth  ;  and  that  for  the  spring 
fast  April  2,  1730,  in  the  collection  of  the  American 
Antiquarian  Society  at  Worcester.  During  these 
years  many  were  printed  in  the  "Boston  News-Letter," 
but  it  is  a  misfortune  that  so  few  are  extant  in  the 
broadside  form.  These  three  are  similar  in  style,  and 
probably  fair  samples  of  those  which  have  disap- 
peared. That  of  1721  is  printed  on  a  sheet  about  12 
by  16,  has  the  royal  arms,  the  legend  "  God  save  the 
King,"  and  the  printer's  name,  Bartholomew  Green. 
The  signature  is  "  Samuel  Shute,  Governor."  There 
was  little  variation  from  this  standard  down  to  the 
American  Revolution,  and  though  a  complete  file  of 
broadsides  after  1750.  could  not  be  made  up,  the  ma- 
jority are  extant  as  shown  in  the  Calendar.  After 
the  death  of  Green,  December  28,  1732,  his  successor 
in  business  and  honors  was  John  Draper,  who  in  turn 
was  followed  by  his  son  Richard  at  his  death,  Novem- 


PRINTER  AND  PROCLAMATION  439 

ber  29,  1762,  and  Richard  Draper  did  the  work  until 
his  death,  June  6,  1774  ;  so  that  all  the  broadsides 
from  1693  to  1774  were  printed  in  one  estabhslunent 
by  three  men.  In  1771  the  size  was  slightly  changed, 
and  the  words  "  Massachusetts  Bay  "  were  sometimes 
printed  at  the  left  of  the  royal  arms. 

There  came  a  time,  however,  when  Thomas  Hutch- 
inson got  tlirough  making  proclamations  in  Boston, 
and  then  the  broadside  was  suddenly  put  into  very 
democratic  homespun.  The  earliest  of  this  group 
was  issued  by  the  Provincial  Congress  for  the  thanks- 
giving December  15,  1774,  and  was  signed  by  "  John 
Hancock,  President."  Of  course  the  arms  and  legend 
are  missing.  It  has  the  plain  heading  ''  In  Provincial 
Congress,  Cambridge,  October  22,  1774."  Tlu-ough- 
out  the  Revolution  these  broadsides  vary  greatly  in  ap- 
pearance. Different  kinds  of  paper  were  used,  various 
styles  of  type,  and  they  had  no  standard  size,  ranging 
from  an  8  by  12  sheet  to  one  15  by  20.  The  printer's 
name  was  not  given  as  formerly.  Benjamin  Edes, 
while  at  Watertown,  issued  those  for  July  20  and  No- 
vember 23, 1775,  and  he  probably  printed  others  after- 
wards. In  place  of  the  arms  we  note  in  that  for 
March  7,  1776,  the  words  "  Colony  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Bay,"  and  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
this  was  altered  to  "  State  of  Massachusetts  Bay." 
In  1779  it  became  "  State  of  Massachusetts,"  and 
in  1781  "  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts."  What 
seemed  to  exercise  the  authors  most  was  the  proper 
substitute  for  the  legend  "  God  save  the  King."  Be- 
fore independence  was  declared,  they  wrote  "  God  save 
the  People."  The  proclamation  which  was  issued  upon 
that  memorable  day  July  4,  1776,  had  "God  save 


440        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

America."  The  next  had  "  God  save  the  United 
States  of  America,"  which  was  usual  thereafter, 
though  we  note  also  "  God  save  the  People,"  "  God 
save  the  People  of  the  United  States,"  and  "  God  save 
the  American  States."  This  series  of  Revolutionary 
proclamations  is  in  every  respect  the  most  interesting 
since  colonial  days. 

The  proclamation  for  the  fast  day  April  15,  1784, 
set  the  present  style  of  Massachusetts  broadsides, 
though  the  sheet  was  only  15  by  20,  the  larger  one 
now  used  having  been  adopted  in  1800.  It  had  at 
the  top  an  impression  of  the  state  seal,  various  cuts  of 
which  have  been  used  since,  showing  nearly  as  great 
diversity  as  those  of  Connecticut,  and  at  the  bottom 
appeared  for  the  first  time  the  familiar  words :  ''  God 
save  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts."  This 
was  printed  by  Adams  and  Nourse,  who  in  course  of 
time  were  succeeded  by  Thomas  Adams,  Adams  and 
Larkin,  Young  and  Minns,  Russell  and  Cutler,  and 
others.  These  did  not  vary  the  style  except  in  the 
seal  and  a  double-column  arrangement.  Governors 
Eustis  in  1824,  and  Banks  in  1860,  changed  the  fash- 
ion, reducing  the  size ;  but  their  successors.  Governors 
Lincoln  and  Andrew,  returned  to  the  ancient  form, 
which  Massachusetts  authorities  have  adhered  to  with 
commendable  loyalty. 

This  description  of  Massachusetts  broadsides  leaves 
less  to  be  said  in  reference  to  Connecticut  proclama- 
tions. In  addition  to  the  two  already  noted,  only 
three  are  known  back  of  1754 :  the  fast  of  1733  and 
the  thanksgivings  of  1743  and  1744.  These  are 
quite  similar  to  their  contemporaries  in  Massachu- 
setts, following  the   English  style  in  size  and  type. 


PRINTER   AND  PROCLAMATION.  441 

Timothy  Green,  of  New  London,  was  still  the  printer, 
and  continued  to  be  throughout  this  period.  After 
the  year  1754,  however,  a  goodly  number  of  Con- 
necticut broadsides  are  extant.  The  collections  of 
the  Connecticut  Historical  Society,  Yale  College,  and 
Hon.  Charles  J.  Hoadly,  state  librarian,  courteously 
put  at  our  service,  would  together  make  up  an  excel- 
lent though  incomplete  file.  These  vary  greatly  in  size, 
type,  and  especially  in  the  impression  of  the  royal 
arms  and  state  seal.  The  reason  is,  they  were  from 
different  presses.  Timothy  Green  was  succeeded  by 
his  son  Timothy,  and  he  in  1763  by  his  nephew  Tim- 
othy, all  of  whom  printed  some  broadsides.  At  New 
Haven,  James  Parker  and  Company  set  up  a  press 
in  1754,  to  whom  Benjamin  Mecom  succeeded  in 
1764,  and  he  in  turn  was  followed  by  Samuel  Green 
in  1767,  being  soon  joined  by  his  brother  Thomas 
in  the  firm  Thomas  and  Samuel  Green,  which  later 
became  Thomas  Green  and  Son.  All  these  printed 
broadsides.  Thomas  Green  went  from  Hartford, 
where  he  had  been  connected  with  Ebenezer  Watson, 
who  continued  the  business  until  his  death  in  1777, 
liis  wife,  Hannah  Watson,  keeping  up  the  establish- 
ment with  George  Goodwin  until  she  married  Bar- 
zillai  Hudson,  when  the  fu-m  became  Hudson  and 
Goodwin.  All  these  printed  broadsides.  Meigs  and 
Dana,  of  New  Haven,  issued  the  thanksgiving  procla- 
mation of  1786.  One  certainly,  in  1794,  was  the 
work  of  Moses  H.  Woodward,  of  Middletown,  and 
probably  the  fast  of  1796  was  by  Collier  and  Buel,  of 
Litchfield.  Elisha  Babcock,  of  Hartford,  also  printed 
several.  Thus  there  were  more  than  a  dozen  imprints 
of  broadsides  before  1800.     That    press    which  was 


442         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

most  convenient  when  the  proclamation  was  issued 
usually  printed  it,  and  as  each  had  its  style  of  type 
and  cut  of  the  arms  or  seal,  the  broadsides  make  as 
interesting  an  exhibit  of  early  Connecticut  printing 
as  can  be  gathered.  Unlike  Massachusetts,  the  royal 
arms  and  the  words  "  God  save  the  King  "  were  not 
omitted  until  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
Nor  was  it  necessary  for  the  council  to  issue  or  sign 
any  as  in  Massachusetts,  —  "  Brother  Jonathan  "  being 
eminently  qualified  for  the  task.  Both  States  had 
their  individual  proclamations  as  well  as  those  order- 
ing a  day  named  by  the  Congress,  in  the  latter  case 
the  national  resolution  being  either  prefixed  or  ap- 
pended. Throughout  the  first  half  of  the  present 
century  the  broadside  was  of  large  size,  which  Gov- 
ernor Trumbull  had  adopted  with  the  thanksgiving  of 
1783.  But  about  1850  it  was  reduced,  and  under 
Governor  Buckingham  it  assumed  the  present  folio 
form. 

In  the  year  1693  William  Bradford  began  printing 
proclamations  in  New  York.  The  earliest  one  for  a 
fast  or  thanksgiving  day  we  have  seen  is  in  the  State 
Archives  at  Albany,  and  is  for  the  fast,  March  27, 
1696.1  It  has  his  imprmt,  and  is  an  excellent  speci- 
men of  his  work.  The  headpiece  is  the  royal  arms, 
and  the  usual  legend  is  at  the  bottom.  The  type  is 
good.  In  size  it  is  somewhat  larger  than  what  had 
been  customary  in  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  but  the 
same  as  a  proclamation  upon  another  subject  printed 
by  him  in  1693.'  Probably  it  fairly  represents  all 
the  early  broadsides  in  New  York.  Soon  afterwards 
he  printed  a  thanksgiving  proclamation  for  Jime  4, 

^  Governor  Fletcher^  xl.  133. 


PRINTER  AND  PROCLAMATION.  443 

1696,  the  day  celebrated  on  account  of  his  Majesty's 
deliverance  "  from  the  base  and  horrid  conspiracy s 
and  plotts  of  His  enemies."  ^  This  is  also  in  the  State 
Archives,  and  two  more  which  he  printed  the  next 
year,  all  being  quite  similar  in  appearance. 

The  history  of  printing  in  New  Hampshire  begins 
with  the  year  1756,  when  Daniel  Fowle  set  up  his 
press  at  Portsmouth.  Probably  he  printed  the  broad- 
sides from  that  time,  but  we  have  seen  none  earlier 
than  that  of  May  21,  1766.  From  that  date  on  to 
1786  a  very  good  collection  is  preserved  in  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Historical  Society,  to  which  several  could 
be  added  by  the  New  Hampshire  Historical  Society, 
the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  and  the  Secretary 
of  State.  Before  the  Revolution  the  size  and  style 
were  similar  to  those  of  Massachusetts,  but  when 
paper  became  scarce  they  were  made  smaller.  Daniel 
Fowle  took  his  nephew  Robert  into  partnership  in 
1764,  and  all  broadsides  down  to  1769  bore  the  im- 
print of  "  Daniel  and  Robert  Fowle,"  though  they 
issued  some  afterward  which  were  without  the  print- 
er's name.  When  they  separated  in  1774,  the  latter 
set  up  a  press  at  Exeter,  and  shared  with  Robert 
Fowle  the  state  printing.     Both    imprints    occur    in 

1776.  Zachariah  Fowle  was  successor  at  Exeter  in 

1777,  and  Lamson  and  Raulet  issued  one  in  1786. 
In  1785  both  Melcher  and  Osborne  and  Robert  Ger- 
rish,  of  Portsmouth,  printed  proclamations,  and  the 
latter  for  years  afterward. 

It  is  quite  probable  that  in  Rhode  Island  some  of 
those  occasional  days,  kept  before  the  Revolution, 
were  proclaimed  in  the  broadside  print.     Work  of  a 

^  Governor  Fletcher,  xl.  p.  164. 


444        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

like  character  was  done  for  the  government  both  at 
Providence  and  Newport ;  but  we  know  of  no  collec- 
tion of  such  broadsides,  and  the  earliest  met  with  is 
for  the  thanksgiving  December  13,  1781,  which  has 
no  peculiar  features.  John  Carter,  of  Providence,  was 
the  printer,  as  for  some  time  afterward.  The  imprint 
of  Carter  and  Wilkinson  is  noted  in  1795,  and  the 
thanksgiving  broadside  of  1797  has ''  Warren :  Printed 
by  Nathaniel  Phillips,  Printer  to  the  State." 

A  few  early  Vermont  broadsides  are  extant,  but  no 
collection  has  been  made  even  by  the  State,  and  no 
file  is  preserved.  The  fast  proclamation  of  June  18, 
1777,  is  in  manuscript,  and  no  press  had  been  estab- 
lished there  at  that  time.  We  do  not  know  that  the 
national  fast  and  thanksgiving  proclamations  of  the 
next  two  years  were  reprinted  at  all,  though  Alden 
Spooner  was  then  "Printer  to  the  State  of  Vermont." 
In  1781  Spooner  and  Green  were  located  at  West- 
minster, and  they  may  have  printed  the  broadside  for 
the  thanksgiving  December  6,  which  was  in  the  Brin- 
ley  Library.^  It  is,  like  its  contemporaries,  without 
seal,  having  at  the  bottom  the  words  "  God  save  the 
People."  Hough  and  Spooner,  of  Windsor,  were  later 
the  state  printers.  Broadsides  for  April  27,  1785, 
and  November  27,  1788,  are  in  the  Brooks  Library 
at  Brattleboro. 

The  day  will  come  when  all  these  early  broadsides 
of  New  England  will  be  of  greatest  interest.  As  mere 
curiosities  of  the  ancient  time,  they  have  a  recognized 
value.  Their  story  is  simply  told  in  the  appearance 
which  they  present,  in  which  the  progress  of  printing 
is  written,  the  history  of  paper-making  and  the  chan- 
1  Brinley  Cat,  No.  8912. 


PRINTER  AND  PROCLAMATION.  445 

ging  styles  of  type.  They  show  the  devastation  of  war 
and  the  thrift  of  peace  in  their  very  fibre.  In  them 
the  record  is  made  of  calamities  and  deliverances 
which  exercised  the  spirits  of  the  fathers,  and  they 
declare  with  the  force  of  contemporaries  the  current 
opinion  of  political  events.  A  few  only  survive  of 
many  thousands  once  fresh,  but  now  withered  and  scat- 
tered leaves. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE  RETURN  TO  THE  CHRISTIAN  YEAR. 

On  the  16tli  of  March,  1894,  the  annual  Fast  Day 
was  abolished  in  the  commonwealth  of  Massachusetts. 
Such  action  was  favored  by  the  vast  majority  of  her 
Christian  citizens  of  all  denominations,  and  met  with 
no  organized  opposition  from  any  source.  It  had  long 
been  evident  that  the  religious  significance  of  the  day 
had  departed ;  but  so  strongly  intrenched  was  the  an- 
cient institution  in  the  life  of  the  people,  that  continued 
discussion,  repeated  memorials,  and  the  recommen- 
dation of  successive  governors  were  necessary  to  ac- 
complish at  last  its  overthrow.  In  the  superficial 
view,  the  action  taken  seemed  to  show  a  disregard  for 
a  religious  custom  of  the  fathers,  and  to  discountenance 
the  practice  of  fasting ;  but  in  reality  it  had  no  such 
purpose  and  could  produce  no  such  effect.  The  insti- 
tution had  two  elements.  It  was  both  a  day  for  re- 
ligious worship  and  a  civil  holiday.  These  were 
divorced.  The  churches,  having  come  to  prefer  the 
crucifixion  of  Christ  rather  than  the  natural  blessings 
of  the  season  as  the  central  idea  of  their  humiliation, 
were  left  to  their  liberty  to  reconstruct  a  new  fast 
day,  dependent  wholly  upon  religious  fervor  for  its 
sanctity.  The  State  dealt  with  the  civil  holiday,  and 
as  such  it  substituted  therefor  the  Nineteenth  of 
April.      Hence  the   statement  that  "  Patriots'  Day  " 


RETURN   TO   THE   CHRISTIAN   YEAR.      447 

has  taken  the  place  of  the  Fast  Day  in  Massachusetts 
demands  qualification. 

On  the  11th  of  April,  1894,  his  Excellency,  Gov- 
ernor Frederic  T.  Greenhalge,  issued  a  proclamation, 
in  the  usual  broadside  form,  recommending  the  first 
observance  of  April  19,  a  day  which  has  certainly  been 
memorable  in  the  history  of  Massachusetts.  In  this 
he  says :  — 

"  This  is  a  day  rich  with  historical  and  significant  events 
which  are  precious  in  the  eyes  of  patriots.  It  may  well  be  called 
Patriots'  Day.  On  this  day  in  1775,  at  Lexington  and  Concord, 
was  begun  the  great  War  of  the  Revolution  ;  on  this  day  in 
1783,  just  eight  years  afterward,  the  cessation  of  the  war  and 
the  triumph  of  independence  was  formally  proclaimed  ;  and  on 
this  day  in  1861  the  first  blood  was  shed  in  the  war  for  the 
Union.  Thus  the  day  is  grand  with  the  memories  of  the  mighty 
struggles  which  in  one  instance  brought  Liberty  and  in  the  other 
Union  to  the  country.  It  is  fitting,  therefore,  that  the  day 
should  be  celebrated  as  the  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  Liberty 
and  Union.  Let  the  day  be  dedicated,  then,  to  solemn,  religious, 
and  patriotic  services,  which  may  adequately  express  our  deep 
sense  of  the  trials  and  tribulations  of  the  patriots  of  the  earlier 
and  of  the  latter  days,  and  especially  our  gratitude  to  Almighty 
God,  who  crowned  the  heroic  struggles  of  the  founders  and  pre- 
servers of  our  country  with  victory  and  peace." 

It  should  not  be  forgotten  among  those  who  mil 
celebrate  this  day  as  the  years  roll  by,  that  there 
were  patriots  also  in  1689,  who  upon  that  same  19th 
of  April  gathered  in  haste  at  Boston  and  brought  to 
a  successful  issue  the  overthrow  of  Sir  Edmund  An- 
dros  by  the  surrender  of  the  Castle,  to  which  he  was 
that  day  committed.  But  another  coincidence  deserves 
to  be  remembered  in  this  connection.  It  has  been 
shown  that  the  annual  fast  day  in  Massachusetts  be- 
gan with  the  19th  of  April,  1694.     The  institution. 


448         FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

therefore,  survived  exactly  two  hundred  years,  and 
upon  the  same  day  of  the  third  century  there  was  inau- 
gurated the  celebration  of  a  new  holiday  in  its  place. 
Surely  the  change  could  not  have  been  made  at  a  more 
fitting  time  ;  and  in  Patriots'  Day  itself,  now  crowned 
with  immortality,  the  genius  of  history  has  designed  a 
friendly  monument  to  an  ancient  custom,  which  has 
served  well  the  commonwealth  in  past  generations. 

The  proposal  to  abolish  Fast  Day  dates  so  far  back 
as  1855,  and  perhaps  farther.  That  year  the  Salem 
Association  of  Congregational  Ministers  discussed  the 
subject,  to  which  they  were  moved  in  part  by  the  oc- 
currence of  Good  Friday  on  April  6,  the  day  after 
the  annual  fast.  Since  then  the  movement  has  been 
revived  from  time  to  time  by  sundry  ecclesiastical 
bodies,  and  notably  at  Salem,  which  was  appropriate. 
In  the  spring  of  1892  it  assumed  definite  shape  in  a 
memorial  originating  with  the  Essex  Congregational 
Club,  signed  by  prominent  representatives  of  various 
religious  denominations  and  of  colleges  within  the 
State,  and  addressed  to  Governor  WiUiam  E.  Russell, 
by  whom,  with  other  like  petitions,  the  same  was  trans- 
mitted to  the  legislature  with  a  brief  message  on  the 
31st  of  May.  This  Memorial  suggested  the  establish- 
ment of  a  new  holiday  and  the  leaving  of  the  sacred 
purposes  of  the  fast  day  "to  be  accomplished  by  the 
observance  of  Good  Friday  as  a  church  religious  fast 
day  independent  of  all  state  control  or  authority." 
The  matter  having  been  referred  to  the  next  legisla- 
ture, the  governor  called  special  attention  to  it  in  his 
inaugural  address  of  1893,  in  which  he  recommended 
that  "  the  secular  duties  of  the  State "  be  severed 
from  "  the  spiritual  obligations  of  the  churches  "  by 


RETURN  TO   THE   CHRISTIAN   YEAR.     449 

providing  another  legal  holiday,  —  for  which  the  19th 
of  April  was  suggested,  —  "  leaving  to  voluntary  action 
the  recognition  and  reverent  observance  either  of  the 
religious  fast  of  Good  Friday  or  of  such  other  day  of 
fasting,  humiliation,  and  prayer  as  the  various  churches 
and  religious  communities  in  the  Commonwealth  may 
at  any  time  appoint  for  themselves."  A  considerable 
majority,  however,  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
voted  against  the  measure  and  it  failed.  Only  a  few 
days  afterward,  Governor  Russell  issued  his  fast  day 
proclamation  appointing  the  6th  of  April,  which 
brought  the  subject  in  vigorous  terms  into  general  no- 
tice. It  proved  to  be  the  last  annual  fast  day  procla- 
mation in  Massachusetts,  and  the  body  of  the  text  is 
as  follows :  — 

"  Whereas,  our  pious  ancestors  established  the  custom  of  set- 
ting apart  by  public  authority  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation  and 
prayer  to  God,  that  the  whole  people  might  thereon,  in  public 
and  private,  unite  in  such  holy  service  and  devotion  to  their 
Creator  as  the  day,  alike  in  its  name  and  purpose,  suggested; 
And  whereas,  long-continued  usage  now  requires  the  annual  ap- 
pointment of  such  a  day,  although  it  has  ceased  to  be  devoted 
generally  to  the  purposes  of  its  origin,  but  is  appropriated  and 
used  as  a  holiday,  for  purposes  at  variance  with  its  origin,  its 
name  and  its  solemn  character  ;  And  whereas,  this  day  iS  recog- 
nized in  the  Statutes  of  the  Commonwealth  and  set  apart  as  a 
holiday,  and  recent  legislative  action  has  decided  that  no  change 
is  to  be  made  in  regard  to  it  ;  it  therefore  becomes  my  official 
duty  now  to  appoint  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer. 
Accordingly,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Council,  I  do 
hereby  appoint  Thursday,  the  sixth  day  of  April  next,  as  the 
day  to  be  devoted  to  such  purposes.  It  is  for  the  people  of  the 
Commonwealth  to  determine  whether  this  day  shall  be  observed 
in  conformity  with  the  high  and  holy  purposes  for  which  it  has 
been  instituted  and  is  appointed,  or  whether  it  shall  be  a  formal 
fast  by  proclamation,  to  which  the  great  body  of  the  community 
of  a  Christian  State  gives  neither  heed,  support,  nor  service." 


450         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

Again  in  1894  the  subject  was  referred  to  in  the 
inaugural  address  of  Governor  Frederic  T.  Green- 
halge,  who  supported  the  recommendations  of  his  pre- 
decessor. Meanwhile  the  Lexington  Historical  So- 
ciety had  taken  the  matter  in  hand,  and  by  a  circular 
and  other  means  had  succeeded  in  kindling  a  public 
interest  in  the  historic  Nineteenth  of  April.  To  the 
propriety  of  celebrating  this  day  the  fmal  action  was 
largely  due.  A  bill  was  drafted  entitled  "  An  Act  to 
abolish  Fast  Day  and  to  make  the  Nineteenth  Day  of 
April  a  Legal  Holiday,"  covering  all  the  pomts  neces- 
sary to  accomplish  the  change,  and  after  full  discus- 
sion, it  was  passed  by  a  larger  majority  than  had  the 
year  before  defeated  the  measure.  On  the  16th  of 
March  the  governor  affixed  his  signature,  and  the  pen 
which  thus  bade  farewell  to  the  fast  day  of  Massa- 
chusetts was  presented  to  the  Lexington  Historical 
Society. 

The  main  aro^iment  which  has  been  at  all  times  of- 
fered  against  this  action  of  Massachusetts  has  been 
that  the '  annual  fast  day  was  an  institution  of  the 
fathers.  It  has  been  shown  that  this  is  untrue  as  to 
those  who  lived  under  the  privileges  of  the  first  char- 
ter. The  right,  which  was  given  to  the  churches 
by  the  earliest  law  enacted  on  the  subject,  and  which 
they  persistently  claimed  and  exercised,  —  that  of  ap- 
pointing such  days  for  humihation  as  they  thought 
proper,  —  still  remains  to  them.  If  we  may  assume 
that  Massachusetts  will  still  keep  special  fasts,  either 
in  company  with  sister  States  or  in  response  to  her 
own  governor,  as  she  did  during  the  civil  war,  then  in 
principle  this  action  has  been  but  a  return  to  the  cus- 
toms of  those  who  founded  that  conunonwealth.     On 


RETURN  TO   THE   CHRISTIAN  YEAR.      451 

the  other  hand,  though  it  has  released  the  churches 
from  allegiance  to  the  fast  day  as  appointed  by  civil 
authority,  it  has  laid  upon  them  the  responsibility  of 
re-creating  in  a  new  form  an  institution  wh^ch  has 
always  been  vital  to  religious  life.  The  force  which 
has  wrought  most  effectively  to  bring  about  the  change 
has  been  the  Christian  regard  for  the  crucifixion  day, 
and  this  is  the  truth  which  alone  has  power  to  revive 
sincere  humiliation  in  the  hearts  of  men.  To  this  the 
people  of  Massachusetts  have  tacitly  pledged  them- 
selves in  seeking  the  abolishing  of  Fast  Day.  The 
State  has  furthered  their  purpose  so  far  as  it  could, 
and  it  has  left  reUgious  bodies  and  Christian  people 
to  do  the  rest. 

It  remains  to  be  seen  what  influence,  if  any,  the 
action  of  Massachusetts  will  have  upon  the  other  New 
England  States.  The  situation  is  the  same  in  Maine, 
New  Hampshire,  and  Vermont,  where  the  fast  day  is 
a  civil  holiday  and  not  appointed  upon  Good  Friday. 
There  also  the  tendency  is  apparent,  especially  in 
cities,  to  observe  the  natural  fast  day  of  the  Christian 
year.  It  is  doubtful  if  as  good  a  substitute  could  be 
found  for  the  spring  holiday,  which  has  a  strong  hold 
upon  the  people,  as  the  Nineteenth  of  April,  into  the 
celebration  of  which  they  could  not  be  expected  to  en- 
ter with  the  ardor  of  Massachusetts.  Without  such 
a  substitute  the  probability  of  a  change  is  greatly  de- 
creased. New  Hampshire  as  a  State  kept  the  earliest 
Good  Friday  fast  days  in  New  England,  and  her  peo- 
ple might  not  be  averse  to  returning  to  that  historic 
precedent.  The  churches  within  these  States  will 
doubtless  become  more  and  more  favorable  to  the  re- 
ligious uses  of  Good  Friday,   and  the  future  action 


452         FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

would  seem  to  be  reduced  to  a  choice  between  the  ex- 
ample of  Connecticut  or  Massachusetts. 

In  Connecticut  the  conditions  are  different  from 
those  which  have  prevailed  in  Massachusetts.  In  the 
former  State  the  annual  fast  has  been  set  upon  Good 
Friday  for  nearly  a  century.  It  may  be  fairly  pre- 
sumed, too,  that  the  State  which  originated  annual 
appointments  wiU  have  some  reluctance  to  forsake  its 
ancient  custom.  Some  at  least  will  see  little  reason 
for  any  change,  as  no  modification  of  the  present  civil 
practice  can  materially  affect  the  religious  purposes  of 
the  day.  During  the  last  twenty-five  years  the  gen- 
eral tendency  to  return  to  the  Christian  year  has 
wrought  efficiently  among  tlie  churches  for  the  recovery 
of  the  spirit  of  the  day.  The  common  theme  is  not 
the  springtime  season,  but  the  crucifixion  of  Christ. 
In  form  only  is  it  the  civil  fast  day.  Formerly  it  was 
the  annual  fast  appointed  upon  Good  Friday ;  it  has 
come  to  be  Good  Friday,  sanctioned  by  the  State's 
authority  and  by  it  made  a  legal  holiday.  It  would 
seem  to  be  wise  to  allow  time  for  this  renewed  interest 
in  Christian  bodies  to  develop.  They  only  can  make 
the  day  of  religious  profit  to  the  community,  and  in 
this  they  are  not  hindered  by  its  civil  relations.  It 
has  been  suggested  that  the  governor  should  discon- 
tinue the  issuing  of  the  usual  proclamation.  This 
feature  is,  true  enough,  a  remnant  of  the  union  of 
church  and  state  ;  but  unless  it  can  be  shown  to  be 
harmful  it  may  properly  claim  respect  because  of 
its  age,  and  it  might  be  made  a  means  of  good.  If 
the  churches  of  a  Christian  commonwealth  are  agreed 
as  to  the  propriety  of  observing  Good  Friday  as  a  re- 
ligious festival,  a  public  proclamation  of  the  day  and 


RETURN  TO   THE   CHRISTIAN  YEAR.      453 

its  purposes  cannot  be  an  offense  to  any.  There  is 
something  to  be  said  in  favor  of  this  recognition  of 
the  occasion  by  the  State,  and  certainly  the  religious 
design  is  not  impeded  by  it.  The  validity  of  the 
complaint  lies  not  so  much  against  the  fact  of  civil 
proclamations,  as  it  does  agamst  their  character,  since 
they  have  degenerated  into  a  mere  form  of  words, 
which  does  not  command  the  respect  of  Christian  peo- 
ple. A  proclamation  which  is  not  in  sympathy  with 
the  religious  community  which  is  urged  to  heed  it 
needs  reformation  quite  as  much  as  the  people. 

We  may  fairly  sum  up  the  whole  matter  in  this 
statement,  —  the  real  question  is  whether  it  is  better 
to  have  the  Good  Friday  fast  a  legal  holiday  or  not. 
In  the  one  case  it  must  run  the  risk  of  being  used  for 
recreation  and  amusements,  in  the  other  it  will  cer- 
tainly be  filled  with  employments  and  traffic.  In  both 
cases  the  observance  is  voluntary.  Tliis  is  precisely 
the  present  difference  between  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut ;  and  it  remains  to  be  proven  that  it  is 
easier  to  win  people  from  their  business  to  worship  on 
Good  Friday  than  from  their  pleasures.  It  is  con- 
ceded that  the  day  is  celebrated  to  a  large  extent  in 
Connecticut  as  a  day  of  pleasure,  but  it  is  not  dese- 
crated in  this  by  one  who  recognizes  it  only  as  a  holi- 
day. \t  is  desecrated  by  Christian  people  who  accept 
it  as  a  holy  day.  They  have  come  to  this  largely 
through  the  habit  of  considering  it  as  a  worn-out 
springtime  fast  day,  and  doubtless  this  will  decrease 
as  the  movement  toward  its  recognition  as  the  cruci- 
fixion day  gains  strength.  It  is  a  fair  contest  between 
the  church  with  its  holy  day  and  the  world  with  its 
holiday ;  and  we  fail  to  see  how  abolishing  the  latter 


454         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

will  assist  the  former.  Every  day  wliieh  finds  public 
favor  is  likely  to  be  set  apart  from  labor ;  and  such 
has  been  the  result  wherever  Good  Friday  has  been 
adopted.  Many  European  countries  regard  it  as  a 
holiday.  Even  the  municipal  authorities  of  New 
York  have  so  recognized  it  upon  more  than  one  oc- 
casion. Every  ritualistic  church  which  glorifies  the 
day  in  its  services,  making  it  preeminently  a  day  for 
worship,  at  the  same  time  assists  in  releasing  the  peo- 
ple from  labor.  The  objection  is,  therefore,  not  so 
much  against  having  it  a  holiday,  as  it  is  against  the 
dissipating  uses  to  which  all  holy  days  are  liable. 
And  as  to  this,  whatever  the  laws  and  customs  may  be, 
its  proper  observance,  like  the  keeping  of  the  Sabbath, 
must  finally  be  left  to  the  people  themselves.  Public 
sentiment  must  be  educated.  The  churches  must 
themselves  show  a  regard  for  the  occasion  ;  and,  with 
the  united  influence  of  ecclesiastical  authorities  so  di- 
verse as  the  Congregational  and  Roman  Catholic,  it 
would  be  strange  indeed  if  the  needed  reform  could 
not  be  effected. 

The  observance  of  Good  Friday  is  only  one  feature 
of  a  much  larger  subject,  —  the  return  to  the  Chris- 
tian year.  Days  which  our  Puritan  fathers  would 
not  keep,  and  which,  it  must  be  conceded,  they  had 
some  reason  to  disregard,  have  come  to  be  adopted  in 
all  Christian  denominations.  Christmas,  Good  Friday, 
Easter,  and  Whitsunday,  which  stand  for  the  great 
facts  of  Christianity,  have  won  a  new  favor  by  their 
merit,  and  have  been  restored  to  preeminence  in  the 
great  catholic  church.  Those  evils  which  were  once 
connected  with  them,  and  against  which  the  Puritans 
of  Queen    Elizabeth's    time  so  vigorously  protested, 


RETURN  TO   THE   CHRISTIAN  YEAR.      455 

have  been  reformed ;  and  even  in  those  communions 
which  have  maintained  their  observance  through  the 
intervening  centuries,  these  days  are  not  what  they 
once  were.  The  life  of  Him  in  whose  honor  they  were 
instituted  has  revived  their  spiritual  significance. 
The  clouds  of  superstition  have  passed  away,  and  the 
sunlight  sheds  its  glory  upon  those  summits  which 
were  raised  heavenward  in  the  creation  of  a  Christian 
world.  The  day  will  come,  and  we  write  to  speed  it, 
when  these  religious  festivals  will  be  sanctioned  by 
those  who  meet  in  assemblies,  conferences,  synods, 
and  councils ;  and  will  be  by  their  churches  no  less 
reverently  esteemed,  though  commemorated  in  an- 
other form  of  worship,  than  among  those  who  ac- 
knowledge the  authority  of  a  bishop  or  the  supremacy 
of  the  Pope.  They  furnish  a  basis  for  Christian 
unity,  more  practical  than  organisms  or  creeds;  and 
elevate  a  unity  of  life  above  that  of  form.  As  the 
feasts  of  Christ  they  assume  a  legitimate  royalty  in 
the  Christian  year.  The  honor  due  the  saints  fades 
away  in  their  presence,  as  stars  that  are  hidden  in  the 
brighter  light  of  other  Imninaries. 

The  descendants  of  the  early  Puritans  have  by  in- 
heritance an  interest  in  the  reverent  keeping  of  these 
festivals.  It  was  the  proposition  of  their  own  fathers 
when  Puritanism  was  in  its  infancy.  The  cycle  of 
events  has  brought  us  back  to  the  convocation  of 
1562,  and  that  compromise  which  was  then  ignomin- 
iously  buried  by  the  vote  of  one  proxy  has  come  si- 
lently to  a  resurrection.  The  spiritual  children  of  the 
Pilgrims,  the  legatees  of  the  later  Puritans,  and  the 
followers  of  all  those  sects  which  arose  during  that  era 
of  separation,  can  properly  and  honorably  rest  their 


456         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

present  practice  upon  that  event,  and  claim  historic 
fellowship  with  the  system  which  their  fathers  sought 
then  to  establish.  After  the  lapse  of  more  than  three 
centuries  the  Christian  world  has  accepted  the  pro- 
posal to  keep  "  The  Feasts  of  Christ." 


ADDENDA. 

A  THANKSGIVING  ON  THE  ARRIVAL  OF  THE  PILGRIMS. 

Evidence  has  come  to  light  since  the  foregoing  pages 
were  in  type,  which  supports  the  belief  that  the  Pilgrims  ob- 
served a  thanksgiving  upon  their  arrival  at  Plymouth,  and  is 
of  sufficient  importance  to  merit  this  added  record. 

The  family  Bible  of  William  White,  the  Pilgrim,  —  a 
"  Breeches  Bible  "  of  1588,  —  has  lately  been  identified  through 
some  marginal  notes  which  it  contains  relating  to  the  Mayflower 
company.  The  later  history  of  the  volume  is  unknown  to  the 
present  possessor,  Mr.  S.  W.  Cowles,  of  Hartford,  Conn.  Its 
early  ownership  is  indicated  by  such  entries  as  the  following  : 
"  William  White  his  Book  1608,"  elsewhere  "  1619  ;  "  "  At 
Amsterdam  Holland.  April.  Anno  Domini  1608  ; "  "  Leyden  Hol- 
land March  1609  ;  "  "  Left  Delf thaven  in  Holland.  Sailed  for 
Southampton,  August  1620  ; "  "  William  White  Sailed  from 
Plymouth  in  y*  Ship  Mayflower  y"  6*^  day  of  September  Anno 
Domini  1620.  Nov  y*  9*^  came  to  the  harbour  called  Cape 
Cod  ;  "  "  Landed  y'  Plymouth  December  y"  11*^  1620."  After 
the  death  of  William  White,  the  book  was  given  in  1623,  by 
Susanna  White  [Winslow],  to  William  Brewster,  —  who,  by  the 
bye,  is  said  to  have  been  at "  Emanuel  College,  England  "  —  and 
it  is,  perhaps,  the  one  noted  in  the  inventory  of  his  estate  as  "  1 
English  bible  lattin  letter,  0.08.00."  It  seems  also  to  have  made 
several  voyages  :  "  This  book  in  y®  dauntless  ship,  and  brought 
back  for  William  Brewster,  1622-3  ; "  "  We  took  this  book 
with  our  Company  on  board  y*  ship  Lion  18*^  July  A.  D.  1632." 
At  one  lime  it  may  have  been  in  the  possession  of  John  How- 
land,  for  the  following  entries  are  made  :  "  John  Howland 
landed  y*  Boston  in  ye  harbor  Sep*  21''  1627  and  joined  our 
company  y*  New  Plymouth  colony.  John  Howland  married 
Katharain  Tilley  grand  darter  of  John  Carver  governer  apointed 
Anno  Domini  1620  of  Plymouth  now  called  New  Plymouth. 
Infant  Sonne  Born  to  John  and  Katherain  Howland  y*  Six 
o.clock  morning  Nov.  ye  23.  Anno  Domini  1629." 


458        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

Several  facts  in  the  preceding  notes  have  been  hitherto  un- 
known. Others  are  added  to  them,  such  as  these  :  "  Y*  Ship  May- 
flower, departed  from  us 'in  y*  month  of  —  March  y'  12**'  1621  ; " 
"  John  Carver.  Sonne  of  James  Carver,  Lincolnshier  Yeoman. 
Called  by  y"  grace  of  God  Governor  of  our  Colony  Dec  y*  10'** 
1620  for  one  year  ;  "  "  Plymouth  1621  Sabbath  y*  ye  new  meeting 
house  on  the  hill.  This  day  We  sang  Psalms  and  hymns  to  y* 
Praise  of  God."  These  items  of  Pilgrim  history  could  hardly 
have  been  recent  inventions,  and  there  is  an  internal  probability 
of  the  truth  of  some  of  them,  however  difBcult  it  may  be  to 
harmonize  others  with  Bradford's  statements.  The  handwriting 
and  the  ink,  as  we  think,  show  that  the  entries  were  made  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  Some  have  been  traced  over  an  older 
hand,  which  may  account  for  some  errors.  Surely  the  record 
that  John  Rowland  married  the  "  grand  darter  "  of  Carver  was 
made  before  the  discovery  of  Bradford's  history,  which  dispelled 
the  tradition  that  he  married  the  governor's  daughter,  and 
must  therefore  have  been  made  with  an  older  tradition  in  mind 
or  by  some  one  who  knew  the  fact.  On  the  other  hand  it  is 
quite  certain  that  all  the  entries  were  not  contemporaneous  with 
the  events.  It  could  not  have  been  >vritten  in  1627  that  John 
Rowland  landed  at  "  Boston  ; "  and  possibly  the  apparent  date 
when  *'  they  chose  or  rather  confirmed  "  Carver  as  governor, 
given  as  December  10, 1620,  may  be  due  to  an  error  of  punctu- 
ation in  the  first  edition  of  Mourt's  Relation,  which  makes  the 
10th  Saturday  instead  of  Sunday.  We  conclude  that  this  Bible 
contains  veritable  and  valuable  historical  data,  recorded  within 
the  lives  of  the  Pilgrims  and  by  those  who  participated  in  their ^ 
experiences.  f 

But  leaving  many  critical  points  to  others,  and  commending 
the  perplexing  problems  of  family  history  to  the  genealogist,  we 
turn  to  one  entry  which  has  an  important  place  in  our  subject. 
It  is  as  follows  :  "  William  White  Maried  on  y"  3^  day  of  March 
1620.  to  Susannah  Tilly.  Peregrine  Whitee  Born  on  Boared  y" 
Mayflower  in  Cape  Cod  barber.  Sonne  born  to  Susanna  Whtee 
December  19*^  1620  y*  Six  o.clock  morning.  Next  day  we  meet 
for  prayer  and  thanksgiving."  The  clause  **  in  Cape  Cod  bar- 
ber" seems  to  have  been  added  later  ;  they  were  certainly  not 
there  on  December  19.  Bradford's  record,  in  Mourt's  Rela- 
tion, of  Peregrine  White's  birth  has  warranted  the  belief  that  it 
occurred  while  they  were  at  Cape  Cod,  and  during  the  second  or 


ADDENDA,  459 

perhaps  third  expedition  of  discovery.  This  entry  places  it  later, 
the  third  day  after  they  anchored  in  Plymouth  Bay.  If  the 
meaning  is  that  the  whole  company  *'  meet  for  prayer  and  thanks- 
giving," the  circumstances  do  not  so  well  suit  an  earlier  date. 
Possibly,  then,  it  was  on  the  19th  of  December  that  the  first 
white  child  of  New  England  was  born,  and  the  event  might 
easily  have  been  associated  with  the  very  important  action  of 
the  day  following. 

It  was  appropriate  that  they  should  meet  to  render  thanks  to 
(xod  upon  the  20th  of  December.  At  last  they  had  found  a  place 
of  habitation,  after  forty  days  of  wandering  since  they  sighted 
land.  The  two  days  before  this  had  been  spent  in  exploring 
l^lymouth;  they  were  the  last  of  their  peregrinations.  The 
circumstances  demanded  immediate  action.  Many  had  decided 
ill  favor  of  the  site  of  Plymouth,  but  a  final  and  formal  choice 
\)\  the  company  was  necessary.  Their  custom  at  Ley  den  had 
been  to  take  such  action  on  special  days  of  prayer.  So  we  have 
a  new  light  thrown  upon  Bradford's  words  as  to  this  very  day  : 
"  So  in  the  morning,  after  we  had  called  on  God  for  direction, 
we  came  to  this  resolution,  to  goe  presently  ashore  againe,  and 
to  take  a  better  view  of  two  places,  which  wee  thought  most 
fitting  for  vs.  .  .  .  After  our  landing  and  viewing  of  the  places, 
so  well  as  we  could,  we  came  to  a  conclusion,  by  most  voyces,  to 
set  on  the  maine  Land,  on  the  first  place."  Thus  we  may  think 
of  them  as  keeping  such  a  day  of  thanksgiving  as  the  circum- 
stances would  permit,  and  thereupon  making  their  decision^ — 
after  some  religious  service.  Upon  this  evidence  the  20th  of 
December,  1620,  may  be  termed  the  first  Thanksgiving  Day  of 
New  England.  X 


ABBEEVIATIONS 

USED  IN  THE 

CALENDAR  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

F.  — Fast  Day. 

T.  —  Thanksgiving  Day. 

Pub.— Public. 

Chh.,  Chhs.,  —  Church,  Churches. 

Ecc.  —  Ecclesiastical. 

Co.  —  Court. 

c.  —  Beginning  of  a  course  of  days. 

Cong.  —  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

C.  C.  —  Continental  Congress. 

P.  C.  — Provincial  Congress.    . 

At.  —  State  Archives. 

Hy.  —  Collection  of  Hon.  Charles  J.  Hoadly,  LL.D.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

L.  —  Collection  of  W.  DeLoss  Love,  Jr.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

S.  —  Sermon  in  print. 

S,  —  Sermon  in  manuscript. 

Manuscripts  are  indicated  by  italics. 

LIBRARIES. 

An.  —  American  Antiquarian  Society,  Worcester,  Mass. 
Ath.  —  Boston  Athenaeum,  Boston,  Mass. 

B.  — Boston  Public  Library,  Boston,  Mass. 

Bo.  —  Library  of  Bowdoin  College,  Brunswick,  Maine. 

C.  —  Congregational  Library,  Congregational  House,  Boston,  Mass. 
Ct.  —  Connecticut  Historical  Society,  Hartford,  Conn. 

H.  —  Hai-vard  College  Library,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

M.  —  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Boston,  Mass. 

N.  H.  —  New  Hampshire  Historical  Society,  Concord,  N.  H. 

N.  Y.  —  New  York  Historical  Society,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

p.  —  Prince  Library,  in  Boston  Public  Library,  Boston,  Mass. 

R.  I.  —  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society,  Providence,  R.  I. 

U.  —  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Y.  —  Yale  College  Library,  New  Haven,  Conn. 


SOME  SOUECES  OF  INFOEMATION 

EMPLOYED   IN    CONSTRUCTING  THE   CALENDAR,  AND  WHICH 
ARE  REFERRED  TO   BY  THE  NUMBER   PREFIXED. 

1.  Mourt's  Relation,  or  Journal  of  the  Plantation  at  Plymouth. 

2.  Bradford's  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  —  Mass.  Hist.  See. 

CoU. 

3.  Winslow's  Relation,  in  Young's  Chronicles  of  the  Pilgrims. 

4.  Winthrop's  History  of  New  England. 

5.  Morton's  New  England's  Memorial. 

6.  Young's  Chronicles  of  Massachusetts. 

7.  Johnson's  Wonder-working  Providence  of  Zion's  Saviour. 

8.  Hubbard's  History  of  New  England,  —Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll. 

9.  Hutchinson's  History  of  Massachusetts,  and  Original  Papers. 

10.  Baylies's  Historical  Memoir  of  New  Plymouth. 

11.  Felt's  Ecclesiastical  History  of  New  England. 

12.  Mather's  Magnalia. 

13.  Increase  Mather's  Early  HistDry  of  New  England. 

14.  Hubbard's  Indian  Wars. 

15.  Mather's  History  of  King  Philip's  War. 

16.  Church's  History  of  King  Philip's  War. 

17.  Drake's  Old  Indian  Chronicle. 

18.  Trumbull's  History  of  Connecticut. 

19.  Broadhead's  History  of  New  York. 

20.  Calendar  of  New  York  Historical  Manuscripts,  Dutch  and  English. 

21.  Thomas  Smith,  Extracts  from  his  Journals,  Falmouth,  Maine. 

22.  Niles's  Narrative  of  the  Wars  in  New  England,  —  Mass.  Hist.  Soc* 

CoU. 

23.  Hutchinson  Papers,  — Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll. 

24.  Mather  Papers,  —  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll. 

25.  Winthrop  Papers,  —  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll. 

26.  Proceedings  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society. 

27.  Historical  Magazine. 

28.  Hale's  Modest  Inquiry  into  the  Nature  of  Witchcraft. 

29.  Paulding's  Affairs  and  Men  of  New  Amsterdam. 

30.  Stuart's  Life  of  Jonathan  Trumbull,  Sr. 

31.  Thornton's  Pulpit  of  the  American  Revolution. 

32.  Hough's  Proclamations  for  Thanksgiving. 

33.  Wheildon's  Curiosities  of  History. 

34.  The  Olden  Tune  Series. 

35.  Salem  Witchcraft,  S.  P.  Fowler. 


462        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

36.  Salem  Witchcraft,  Charles  W.  Upham. 

37.  "  Memorable  Providences,"  or  John  Pike's  Journal,  —  MS.  in  Mass. 

Hist.  Soc. 

38.  Moore's  Diary  of  the  American  Revolution. 

39.  Annals  of  Providence,  —  R.  I.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll. 

40.  Plymouth  Colonial  Records. 

41.  Massachusetts  Colonial  Records. 

42.  Connecticut  Colonial  Records. 

43.  New  Haven  Colonial  Records. 

44.  New  Hampshire  Colonial  Records. 

45.  Rhode  Island  Colonial  Records. 

46.  Vermont,  Records  of  the  Governor  and  Council, 

47.  Pennsylvania  Colonial  Records  and  Archives. 

48.  New  Jersey  Archives. 

49.  Documents  relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  New  York, 

50.  Documentary  History  of  New  York. 

51.  Massachusetts  Acts  and  Resolves. 

52.  Rhode  Island  Acts  and  Resolves. 

53.  New  Hampshire  Journals  of  the  Senate  and  House. 

54.  Manuscript  Council  Records  of  New  Hampshire. 

55.  Annals  of  Congress. 

56.  Journals  of  Congress. 

57.  Proceedings  of  the  Massachusetts  Provincial  Congress,  — American 

Archives. 

58.  Hazard's  Historical  Collections. 

59.  Ecclesiastical,  vols,  x.,  xi.,  and  xii.    Manuscript  Archives  of  Mass. 

60.  Commissions  and  Proclamations,  —  Manuscript  Archives  of  Mass. 

61.  Council  Records,  — Manuscript  Archives  of  Mass. 

62.  General  Court  Records,  —  Manuscript  Archives  of  Mass. 

63.  Council  Minutes,  —  Manuscript  Archives  of  New  York. 

64.  Translations  from  the  Dutch,  —  Manuscript  Archives  of  New  York. 

65.  Correspondence  and  Miscellaneous,  —  Manuscript  Archives  of  New 

York. 

66.  Manuscript  Records  of  New  Amsterdam. 

67.  "  Form  of  Prayer  "  in  Print. 

68.  Church  Records  of  Scituate  and  Barnstable,  —  N.  E.  Reg.,  Vols. 

ix.  and  x. 

69.  Roxbury  Church  Records,  — N.  E.   Reg.,  vols,  xxxiii.  and  xxxiv. 

70.  Salem  Church  Records,  in  White's  New  England  Congregationalism, 

71.  Records  of  the  First  Church  at  Dorchester. 

72.  HiU's  History  of  the  Old  South  Church. 

73.  Records  of  the  First  Church  in  Charlestown,  James  F.  Hunnewell. 

74.  Records  of  the  First  Church  in  Boston,  —  MS.  in  Mass.  Hist.  Soc. 

75.  History  of  Lynn,  Lewis  and  Newhall. 

76.  Records  of  the  First  Church,  Plymouth,  —  MS.  in  Pilgrim  Hall. 

77.  Manuscript  Records  of  the  Congregational  Church,  Marblehead, 


78.  Manuscript  Records  of  the  First  Church,  Middletown,  Conn. 


SOURCES   OF  INFORMATION,  463 

79.  Treasurer's  Book,  —MS.,  First  Church  in  Dedhara,  Mass. 

80.  Diary  of  Samuel  Sewall,  —  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll. 

81.  Diary  of  John  Hull,  —  Am.  Antiq.  Soc.  CoU. 

82.  Diary  of  Thomas  Robbins. 

83.  Journal  of  WiUiam  Adams,  —  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  CoU. 

84.  New  England  Hist,  and  Gen.  Register. 

85.  Brinsmead  Note-book,  —MS.  in  IVtass.  Hist.  Soc. 

86.  Increase  Mather's  Manuscript  Diaries,  —  Am.  Antiq.  Soc. 

87.  Cotton  Mather's  Manuscript  Diaries,  —  Am.  Antiq.  Soc,  Mass.  Hist. 

Soc,  and  Congregational  Library. 

88.  Diary  of  Israel  Loring,  —  MS.  in  Conn.  Hist.  Soc. 

89.  Diary  of  Michael  Wigglesworth,  —  MS.  in  Mass.  Hist.  Soc. 

90.  Matthew  Grant's  Manuscript  Note-book. 

91.  Shorthand  Note-book  of  Henry  Wolcott,  Jr.,  —  MS.  in  Conn.  Hist. 

Soc. 

92.  Hempstead  Diary,  —  MS.  in  New  London  Hist.  Soc. 

93.  Thomas  Miner's  Diary,  —  MS.   Hon.  R.  A.  Wheeler,  Stonington, 

Conn. 

94.  Daniel  Wadsworth's  Diary,  —  MS.  in  Conn.  Hist.  Soc. 

95.  Notes  of  Warham's  Sermons,  —  MSS.  in  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc 

96.  Diary  of  Jeremiah  Bumstead,  —  MS.  in  Am.  Antiq.  Soc. 

97.  John  Fiske's  Manuscript  Record  Book,  —  Hon.  Samuel  A.  Green, 

M.  D. 

98.  Samuel  Sewall's  Sermon  Notes,  — MSS.  in  Bos.  Pub.  Lib. 

99.  Mather  Papers,  Unprinted  Manuscripts  in  Bos.  Pub.  Lib. 

100.  Cotton  Papers,  —MSS.  in  Bos.  Pub.  Lib. 

101.  Boston  News-Letter. 

102.  Boston  Gazette. 

103.  New  England  Weekly  Journal,  Boston,  Mass. 

104.  Boston  Weekly  Post-Boy. 

105.  New  Hampshire  Gazette,  Portsmouth,  N.  H. 

106.  New  London  Summary. 

107.  New  London  Gazette,  1763-1773.    Connecticut  Gazette,  1773-1823. 

108.  Connecticut  Courant,  Hartford,  Conn. 

109.  Middlesex  Gazette,  Middletown,  Conn. 

110.  Spooner's  Vermont  Journal  and  Universal  Advertiser,  Windsor, 

Vt. 

111.  Vermont  Gazette,  Bennington,  Vt. 

112.  Rutland  Herald,  Rutland,  Vt. 

113.  Green  Mountain  Farmer,  Bennington,  Vt. 

114.  Providence  Gazette. 

115.  Washingtonian,  Windsor,  Vt. 

116.  New  Hampshire  Gazetteer. 


464 


FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 


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466        FAST  AND  THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 


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BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

1.— -1636-7,  Jan.  19. —John  Wheelwright,  [Mount  Wollaston] 
Boston,  Mass.  A  Sermon  Preached  at  Boston  in  New  England,  vpon 
a  Fast  Day  the  xvjth  [19th]  of  January  1636.  [Matt.  ix.  15.]  (1) 
Proceedings  of  the  Mass.  Hist.  Soc,  1866-7,  pp.  256-274.  (2)  Cam- 
bridge :  John  Wilson  and  Son.  1807.  8°,  pp.  22.  [Twenty-five  copies 
privately  reprinted  from  the  "  Proceedings."]  (3)  Historical  Maga- 
zine, Apr.  1867.  2  s.  i.  215-224.  (4)  Morrisania,  N.  Y. :  18()7.  8°,  pp. 
viii.  28.  [Twenty-five  copies  privately  reprinted  from  the  "  Historical 
Magazine."]     (5)  Boston  :   1876.     Publications  of  the  Prince  Society. 

2.  — 1640,  July  23.  —  William  Hooke,  Taunton,  Mass.  New  | 
En-glands  |  Teares,  |  for  Old  |  Englands  |  Feares.  |  Preached  in  a 
Sermon  on  July  23, 1640.  |  being  a  day  of  Publike  Humiliation,  ap-  | 
pointed  by  the  Churches  in  behalfe  of  |  our  Native  Countrey  in  time  | 
of  feared  dangers.  .  .  .  [Job  ii.  13.]  (1)  London :  .  .  T.  P.  for  John 
Rothwell  and  Henry  Overton,  .  .  .  1641.  4°,  pp.  (4)  23.  —  An.  P. 
[Sabin,  No.  32811.  The  word  "Englands"  in  capitals  and  small 
capitals.  There  are  13  ornaments  in  the  first  headpiece.  The  17th 
line  of  the  title  ends  with  the  word  "desires."]  (2)  London:  .  .  E. 
G.  for  John  Rothwell  and  Henry  Overton,  1641.  4°,  pp.  (4)  23.  —  B. 
H.  [Sabin,  No.  32810.  The  running  headline  is  all  in  italics.  There 
are  15  ornaments  in  the  first  headpiece.  Another  lining.]  (3)  Lon- 
don: .  .  1.  D.  for  John  Rothwell  and  Henry  Overton,  1641.  4°,  pp. 
(4)  23.  —  Ives  Coll.  J.  Carter  Brown.  [There  are  lines  about  the 
initial  letters.  The  17th  line  of  the  title  ends  with  the  word  "it."] 
(4)  Reprinted  in  "Ministry  of  Taunton,"  i.  75  ff. 

3. —  [1642,  Apr.  14.] — William  Hooke,  Taunton,  Mass.  New- 
Englands  Sence,  |  of  |  Old-England  |  and  Irelands  |  Sorrowes.  |  A 
Sermon  preached  upon  a  day  of  |  generall  Humiliation  in  the  Churches 
of  I  New-England.  |  In  the  behalfe  of  Old-England  and  Irelands  | 
Sad  condition.  [2  Sam.  x.  6-12.]  (1)  London :  .  .  John  Rothwell, 
.  .  .  1645.  4°,  pp.  (2)  34.  — H.  (2)  Reprinted  in  "Ministry  of 
Taunton,"  Emery,  i.  99  ff. 

4.  —  [1664-5,  Mar.  22.]  —  Samuel  Danforth,  Roxbury,  Mass.     An  | 
Astronomical  Description  |  of  the  late  |  Comet  |  Or  Blazing.  Star,  | 
As  it  appeared  in  New-England  in  the   |   O'**,  lO^*",   11'**,  and  in  the 
beginning  |  of  the  12^*^  Moneth,  1664.  j  Together  |  With  a  brief  Theo- 
logical Application  |  thereof.     [Joel  ii.  30,  31.     Luke  xxi.  25.     Acts 
ii.  19.  20.]    Cambridge  :  .  .  Samuel  Green,  1665.     16°,  pp.  22.  — M. 


516        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING   DAYS, 

5.  — [1668-1669.]     John  Davenport,  Boston,  Mass.     God's  Call  | 
to  I  His  People  |  To  Turn  unto  Him ;  |  Together  with  |  His  Promise 
to  Turn  unto  them.  |  Opened  and  Applied  in  |  II  Sermons,  |  At  two 
Publiek  Fasting-dayes  appointed   by  Authority.     [Zech.  i.  3.]     (1) 
Cambridge  :  .  .  S.  G.  and  M.  J.  for  John  Vsher,  1669.     4°,  pp.  27. 

(2)  London :   .  .  1670.     4°.     [Bacon's  Historical  Discourses,  p.  889.] 

(3)  Cambridge :   1672.     [Haven's  List  of  Ante-Revolutionary  Publi- 
cations.] 

6.— [1670,  June  16.]— Samuel  Willard,  Groton,  Mass.  Useful 
Instructions  |  for  a  professing  People  in  Time  of  great  |  Security  and 
Degeneracy  :  |  Delivered  in  several  |  Sermons  |  on  Solemn  Occasions : 
[Jer.  vii.  12.]  [The  first  of  three  sermons  in  volume  having  the  above 
title-page.]  Cambridge :  .  .  Samuel  Green,  1073.  4°,  (4)  19,  43,  80. 
—  H.     Library  of  Congress.     Samuel  A.  Green. 

7.  —  [1672,  June  13.]  —  Samuel  Willard,  Groton,  Mass.  Same. 
[Isa.  xxi.  11,  12.]     [The  third  of  the  above  sermons.] 

8.  — 1673-4,  Feb.  11.  —  Increase  Mather,  Boston,  Mass.  The  Day 
of  Trouble  is  near.  |  Two  |  Sermons  |  Wherein  is  shewed,  |  What  are 
the  Signs  of  a  Day  of  Trouble  being  near.  |  And  particularly,  |  What 
reason  there  is  for  New-England  to  expect  |  A  Day  of  Trouble.  |  Also 
what  is  to  be  done,  that  we  may  escape  these  things  |  which  shall  come 
to  pass.  I  Preached  (the  ll^*"  day  of  the  12'^  Moneth  1673.  being  a 
day  of  I  Humiliation  |  in  one  of  the  Churches  in  Boston.  [Ezek.  vii. 
7.]     Cambridge:  .   .  Marmaduke  Johnson,  1()74.     4°,  pp.  (4)31.  —  P. 

9.  —1674,  Mar.  26.  —  Thomas  Thacher,  Boston,  Mass.  A  Fast  of 
God's  chusing,  |  Plainly  opened,  |  For  the  help  of  those  poor  in  spirit, 
whose  I  hearts  are  set  to  seek  the  Lord  their  God  |  in  New-England, 
in  the  solemn  |  Ordinance  of  |  A  Fast.  Wherein  is  shewed.  .  .  .  | 
Preached  on  a  Fast  called  by  publiek  Au-  |  thority.  On  26.  1.  74. 
[Isa.  Iviii.  5,  6.]  Boston :  .  .  John  Foster,  1678.  4°,  pp.  (6)  25.  — 
Ath.    M. 

10.  —  1675,  [Oct.  21].  — Edward  Bulkley,  Concord,  Mass.  A 
Thankefull  |  Remembrance  |  of  Gods  Mercy  |  to  Several  Persons  at 
Quabaug  or  |  Brookfield :  |  Partly  in  a  Collection  of  Providences 
about  them,  |  and  Gracious  Appearances  for  them  :  and  partly  in  a  | 
Sermon  Preached  by  Mr.  Edward  Bulkley,  |  Pastor  of  the  Church 
of  Christ  at  Concord,  upon  a  |  day  of  Thanksgiving,  kept  by  divers  for 
their  Wonder-  |  full  Deliverance  there.  |  Published  by  Capt.  Thomas 
Wheeler.  [Psa.  cxvi.  12.]  Cambridge  :  .  .  Samuel  Green,  1676. 
4°,  pp.  (6)  14,  32.  —  Lenox  Library.     Y. 

11.  — 1675-6,  Mar.  22. —James  Fitch,  Norwich,  Conn.     An  |  Ex- 
planation I  of  the  Solemn  |  Advice,  |  Recommended  by  the  Council  | 
in   Connecticut  Colony  |  to  the  Inha-  |  bitants  in  that  Jurisdiction,  | 
Respecting  the  Reformation  of   those  |  Evils,  which  have  been  the 
Pro-  I  curing-Cause    of    the    late    Judgments    upon    New-England. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  517 

[Dent.  ix.  7.]  Boston :  .  .  S.  Green  for  J.  Usher,  .  .  .  1683.  8°, 
pp.  (8)  1-66  (67-72,  73-133).  —  An.    Ath.    Ct.    P. 

12.  —  [1676,   May   9.]  —  Increase    Mather,   Boston,    Mass.      An 
Earnest  |  Exhortation  |  To  the    Inhabitants    of  |  New-England,  |  To 
hearken  to  the  voice  of  God  |  in  his  late  and  present  |  Dispensations  | 
As  ever  they  desire  to  escape  another  Judgement,  seven  times  |  greater 
then  anything  which  as  yet  hath  been.      Boston :  .  .  John   Foster, 

1676.  4°,  pp.  (2)  26.  —  M.  [It  was  issued  with  the  History  of  the  War, 
and  a  second  impression  was  put  out  in  1677.  Sibley's  "  Harvard 
Graduates,"  i.  440-442.] 

13.  — 1676-7,  Mar.  21.  —  Increase  Mather,  Boston,  Mass.  Renewal 
of  Covenant  the  great  Duty  |  incumbent  on  decaying  or  distressed  | 
Churches.  |  A  Sermon  |  Concerning  Renewing  of  Covenant  with  God 
in  Christ,  |  Preached  at  Dorchester  in  New-England,  the  21.  Day  |  of 
the  1.  Moneth,  1677.  being  a  Day  of  |  Humiliation  |  There,  on  that 
Occasion.     [Neh.  ix.  38.]     Boston  :   .  .  J.  F.  for  Henry  Phillips,  .  .  . 

1677.  4°,  pp.  (8)  21.— B. 

14.  —  1678,  July  3.  —  Increase  Mather,  Boston,  Mass.  Pray  for  the 
Rising  Generation,  |  Or  A  |  Sermon  |  Wherein  Godly  Parents  are  En- 
cou-  I  raged  to  Pray  and  Believe  |  for  their  Children,  |  Preached  the 
third  Day  of  the  fifth  Moneth,  1678.  |  which  Day  was  set  apart  by 
the  second  Church  in  Boston  in  New-England,  |  humbly  to  seek  unto 
God  by  Fasting  and  Prayer,  |  for  a  Spirit  of  Converting  Grace,  to  be 
poured  |  out  upon  the  Children  and  Rising  Generation  in  |  New- 
England.      [Isa.  xliv.   3.]     (1)   Cambridge :   .  .  Samuel    Green,  .  .  . 

1678.  4°,  pp.  23.  (2)  Boston :  .  .  John  Foster,  1679.  16^,  pp.  29. 
["  Appended  to  the  1679  edition  of  *  A  Call  from  Heaven.' "  Sibley.] 
—  An.  M.  P.  (.3)  Boston:  .  .  R.  P.  forJ.Brunning,  1685.  16°, pp. 
161-198  of  1685  edition  of  "  A  Call  from  Heaven."  —  An.     P. 

15.-1678,  Nov.  21.  — William  Adams,  Dedham,  Mass.  The  | 
Necessity  |  of  |  The  pouring  out  of  the  Spirit  |  from  on  High  |  upon 
a  I  Sinning  Apostatizing  People,  set  under  |  Judgment,  in  order  to  their 
merciful  |  Deliverance  and  Salvation.  |  As  it  was  Delivered  in  part, 
upon  21.  9.  1678.  being  a  general  |  Fast  throughout  the  United  Col- 
onies of  N.  E.  [Isa.  xxxii.  13-18.]  (1)  Boston  :  .  .  John  Foster,  for 
William  Avery,  ...  1679.  4°,  pp.  (8)  48.  —  An.  H.  M.  P.  (2) 
Reprinted  in  "  Dedham  Pulpit,"  pp.  29  ff. 

16.  — 1678,  Nov.  21.  —  Joseph  Rowlandson,  Wethersfield,  Conn. 
The  I  Possibility  of  Gods  For-  |  saking  a  people,  |  That  have  been 
visibly  near  &  dear  to  him  |  Together,  |  With  the  Misery  of  a 
People  thus  forsaken,  |  Set  forth  in  a  |  Sermon,  |  Preached  at 
Weathersfield,  Nov.  21.  1678.  |  Being  a  Day  of  Fast  and  Hu-  |  milia- 
tion.  [Jer.  xxiii.  33.]  (1)  Boston:  .  .  John  Ratcliffe  and  John 
Griffin,  1682.  16°,  pp.  (6)  22.  P.  —  (2)  .  .  .  Reprinted  at  London, 
and  sold  by  Joseph  Poole,  .  .  .  1682.     4°,  pp.  35-46.    [Printed  with 


618         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

"A  True  History  of  the  Captivity  and  Restoration  of  Mrs.  Mary 
Rowlandson,"  etc.] — Watkinson  Library.  Y.  (3)  Reprinted  in 
"Somers  Tracts,"  ed.  1812,  viii.  582. 

17.  — 1679-80,  Mar.  17.  — Increase  Mather,  Boston,  Mass.  Re- 
turning unto  God,  the  great  concernment  |  of  a  Covenant  People.  | 
Or  I  A  Sermon  |  Preached  to  the  second  Church  in  Boston  in  |  New- 
England,  March  17.  1679-80.  when  |  that  Church  did  solemnly  and 
explicitly  |  Renew  their  Covenant  with  |  God,  and  one  with  another. 
[Hosea  xiv.  i.]  Boston :  .  .  John  Foster,  1680.  4°,  pp.  (6)  19  (2). 
—  M.    P. 

18.— 1679-80,  Mar.  17. —Samuel  Willard,  Boston,  Mass.  The 
Duty  of  a  People  that  have  Renewed  |  their  Covenant  with  God.  | 
Opened  and  Urged  in  |  A  Sermon  |  Preached  to  the  second  Church  in 
Boston  in  |  New-England,  March  17.  1679-80  after  |  that  Church  had 
explicitly  and  most  |  solemnly  renewed  the  Ingagement  |  of  them- 
selves to  God,  and  |  one  to  another.  [Josh.  xxiv.  22, 23.]  Boston :  .  . 
John  Foster,  1680.    4°,  pp.  (2)  13.  — M.     P. 

19.  —  [1679-1680.]  ~  Urian  Oakes,  Cambridge,  Mass.  A  |  Season- 
able Discourse  |  Wherein  |  Sincerity  &  Delight  |  in  the  Service  of 
God  I  is  earnestly  pressed  upon  |  Professors  of  Religion.  |  Delivered 
on  a  Publick  Fast,  at  Cambridge  in  |  New-England.  [Isa.  xliii.  22.] 
Cambridge  :  .  .  Samuel  Green,  1682.     4°,  pp.  (6)  33.  —  P. 

20.  —  1680,  June  29.  —  Samuel  Willard,  Boston,  Mass.  The  |  Ne- 
cessity I  of  I  Sincerity,  |  in  renewing  |  Covenant :  |  Opened  and  urged 
in  a  I  Sermon,  Preached  to  the  Third  ga-  |  thered  Church  in  Bos- 
ton, New-England  ;  |  June  29,  1680.  On  the  Day  wherein  they  |  Sol- 
emnly renewed  Covenant.  [Part  of  "  Covenant-Keeping  the  Way  to 
Blessedness."]  Boston,  N.  E. :  .  .  James  Glen,  for  S.  Sewell,  1682. 
16°,  pp.  131-150  (6).  —An. 

21.  — 1681-2,  Feb.  15.  — Samuel  Willard,  Boston,  Mass.  The 
Fiery  Tryal  no  strange  thing;  |  delivered  in  a  |  Sermon  |  Preached 
at  I  Charlestown,  |  February  15.  1681.  |  Being  a  Day  of  |  Humiliation. 
[1  Pet.  iv.  12.]  Boston,  N.  E. :  Printed  for  Samuel  Sewall,  1682.  4°, 
pp.  (4)  19  (1).— An.    H.    M. 

22.  —  [1681-1682.]  —  Increase  Mather,  Boston,  Mass.  A  Sermon  | 
Wherein  is  shewed  that  the  Church  of  God  |  is  sometimes  a  Subject 
of  I  Great  Persecution  ;  |  Preached  on  a  Publick  |  Fast  |  At  Boston 
in  New-England  :  |  Occasioned  by  the  Tidings  of  a  great  Persecution 
Raised  against  |  the  Protestants  in  France.  [Acts  viii.  1.]  Boston, 
in  New-England :  Printed  for  Samuel  Sewall,  in  the  year  1682.  4°, 
pp.  (6)24.  — An.     M. 

23. —  1682,  June  24  [22]. —William  Hubbard,  Ipswich,  Mass. 
The  Benefit  |  Of  a  Well-Ordered  |  Conversation,  |  As  it  was  Delivered 
in  a  i  Sermon  |  Preached  June  24*\  1682.  On  a  Day  |  of  publick 
Humiliation.  ]  As  also  A  Funeral  Discourse.  .  .  .  [Psa.  li.  27.]  Printed 
at  Boston  by  Samuel  Green,  1684.     16°,  pp.  (6)  218.  —An.     H.     M. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY,  519 

24.  — 1682-3,   Jan.  25.  —  Samuel   WiUard,   Boston,   Mass.      AU 
Plots  against  God  and  his  People  |  Detected  and  Defeated,  as  it  was  | 
delivered  in   a  |  Sermon  |  At  a  Fast  kept  by  the  First  gathered  | 
Church  in   Boston,  Jan.  25,  |  1682.       Boston,  in   New-England:  .  . 
Samuel  Green,  .  .  .  1684.      8^,  pp.  199-227.     [Printed  with   "  The 
Childs  Portion."]  —  H. 

25.  — 1687,  July  26.— James  Allen,  Boston,  Mass.  Neglect  of 
Supporting  |  and  |  Maintaining  the  Pure  |  Worship  of  God,  |  By  the 
Professing  People  of  God :  is  a  God-provoking  and  |  Land-Wasting 
Sin.  I  And  Repentance  with  Reformation  of  it,  the  only  way  to  |  their 
Outward  Felicity :  Or,  |  The  Cause  of  New-Englands  Scarcity :  And 
right  way  to  its  |  Plenty.  |  As  it  was  Discovered  and  Applied  in  a 
Sermon  Preached  at  Roxbury,  |  on  a  Fast-Day  :  July  26,  1687.  Bos- 
ton :  Printed  for  Job  How  and  John  Allen,  .  .  .  1687.    4°,  pp.  (4)  16. 

26.  — 1689,  Dec.  19.  —  Cotton  Mather,  Boston  Mass.  The  Wonder- 
ful Works  of  God  |  Commemorated.  |  Praises  |  Bespoke  for  the  God 
of  Heaven,  |  In  a  Thanksgiving  |  Sermon  ;  |  Delivered  on  Decemb.  19. 
1689.  I  Containing  |  Just  Reflections  upon  the  Excel-  |  lent  Things 
done  by  the  Great  God,  |  more  Generally  in  Creation  and  Re-  |  demp- 
tion,  and  in  the  Govem-ment  of  the  World  ;  But  more  Par-  |  ticularly 
in  the  Remarkable  Revolu-  |  tions  of  Providence  which  are  every  | 
where  the  matter  of  present  Observation.  |  With  a  Postscript  giving 
an  Account  of  some  very  |  stupendous  Accidents,  which  have  lately 
happened  |  in  France.  |  By  Cotton  Mather.  I  To  which  is  Added  a 
Sermon  Preached  unto  the  |  Convention  of  the  Massachuset-Colony 
in  I  New-England.  |  With  a  short  Narrative  of  several  Prodigies,  which 
New-  I  England  hath  of  late  had  on  the  Alarms  of  Heaven  in.  [Isa. 
xii.  5.]  [Proclamation  for  Thanksgiving,  Dec.  19,  1689,  is  appended.] 
Boston:  .  .  S.  Green,  .  .  .  1690.     16°,  pp.  (8)  32.— An.    H.   M.     P. 

27.  —  [1691-1692.]  — Cotton  Mather,  Boston,  Mass.  A  Midnight 
Cry.  An  Essay  for  our  Awakening  out  of  a  Single  Sleep.  ...  A 
Discourse  given  on  a  Day  of  Prayer,  kept  by  the  North-Church  in 
Boston.  Boston:  .  .  John  Allen  for  Samuel  Phillips,  1692.  12°, 
pp.  72. 

28.  —  [1692,  May  26.]  —  Cotton  Mather,  Boston,  Mass.  An  Hor- 
tatory and  Necessary  Address  to  a  Country  now  Extraordinarily 
Alarum'd  by  the  Wrath  of  the  Devil.  [A  part  of  "  The  Wonders  of 
the  Invisible  World,"  for  full  title  of  which  see  Sibley's  "Harvard 
Graduates,"  iii.  58,  59.] 

29.  — 1693,  July  6.  —  Cotton  Mather,  Boston,  Mass.  The  Day,  and 
the  Work  of  the  Day.  |  A  Brief  Discourse,  |  on  |  "What  Fears,  we 
may  have  at  |  This  Time  to  quicken  us ;  |  What  Hopes  there  are  for 
us  at  I  This  Time  to  comfort  us :  |  And  |  What  Prayers  would  be 
Likely  to  |  turn  our  Fears  into  Hopes.  |  With  |  Reflections  upon  Time 
and  State,  |  now  come  upon  the  Church  |  of  God,  |  And  |  Collections 


520         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

of  certain  Prophecies  |  relating  to  the  Present  Circum-  |  stances  of 
New-England.  |  Uttered  on  a  Fast,  kept  in  |  Boston,  July  6th  1693. 
[Job  XV.  4.]     Boston:  .  .  B.  Harris,  1693.     12°,  pp.  71.  —P. 

30.  —  1694,  Aug.  23.  —  Samuel  Willard,  Boston,  Mass.  Kef orma- 
tion  I  The  Great  Duty  |  of  an  |  Afflicted  People.  |  Setting  forth  | 
The  Sin  and  Danger  there  is  |  in  Neglecting  of  it,  under  the  |  Contin- 
ued and  Repeated  Judg-  |  ments  of  God.  |  Being  the  Substance  of 
what  was  |  Preached  on  a  Solemn  Day  of  |  Humiliation,  kept  by  the 
Third  Gathered  Church  in  Boston,  |  on  August  23d.  1694.  [Lev.  xxvi. 
23,24.]  Boston,  ....  Bartholomew  Green,  1694.  16°,  pp.  76.  —  An. 
M.    P. 

31.  —  [1696  ?]  — Cotton  Mather,  Boston,  Mass.  The  Christian 
Thank-Offering.  A  Brief  Discourse  ...  on  Rom.  12.  1.  Made  on 
a  Solemn  Thanksgiving,  kept  in  a  Private  Meeting  of  Christians,  on 
the  Occasion  of  some  Deliverance.  Boston :  .  .  B.  Green  &  J. 
Allen,  for  Michael  Perry,  1696.     16°,  pp.  32. 

32.  — 1701,  Sept.  18. —Samuel  WiUard,  Boston,  Mass.  The  | 
Checkered  |  State  |  of  the  |  Gospel  Church.  |  Being  |  the  Substance 
of  a  Sermon  |  prepared  for,  and  in  part  Preached  |  on  Sejitember  18th 
1701.  Being  |  a  Day  of  Publick  Fasting  |  and  Prayer.  [Zech.  xiv.  6, 
7.]  Boston,  in  N.  E. :  .  .  B.  Green,  and  J.  Allen,  for  Samuel  Sewall, 
junior,  .  .  .  1701.     16°,  pp.  64.  — An.     Ath.     Ct.     M.     P. 

33.  — 1703,  May  19.  —  Cotton  Mather,  Boston,  Mass.  The  Duty 
of  I  Children,  |  Whose  Parents  have  Pray'd  for  them.  |  Or,  |  Early  and 
Real  I  Godliness  |  Urged ;  |  Especially  upon  such  as  are  Descended  | 
from  Godly  Ancestors.  |  In  a  Sermon  Preached  on  May  19.  |  1703. 
A  Day  Set  apart  for  Pray-  |  er  with  Fasting,  in  one  of  the  |  Congre- 
gations at  Boston,  to  im-  |  plore  the  Glorious  Grace  of  God,  |  for 
the  Rising  Generation.  [Ex.  xv.  2.]  Boston :  Printed  for  J.  Edwards 
&  B.  Gray  .  .  .  1719.  12°,  pp.  41-99.  —  P.  [Title  from  the  Second 
Impression,  with  the  sermon  of  Increase  Mather  on  "  The  Duty  of 
Parents  etc."     The  First  Impression  appeared  in  1703.] 

34.  — 1703,  May  19.  —  Increase  Mather,  Boston,  Mass.  The  Duty 
of  I  Parents  |  To  |  Pray  |  For  their  |  Children,  |  Opened  &  Applyed 
in  a  Sermon,  |  Preached  May  19.  1703.  |  Which  Day  was  set  apart  by 
One  I  of  the  Churches  in  Boston,  New-  |  England,  humbly  to  Seek 
unto  God  by  Prayer  with  Fast-  |  ing  for  the  Rising  Generation. 
[1  Chron.  xxix.  19.]  (1)  Boston :  .  .  B.  Green  and  J.  Allen,  .  .  .  1703. 
12°,  pp.  6e>.  (2)  Boston:  .  .  John  Allen  for  John  Edwards,  1719. 
12°,  pp.  vi.  40.  — H.     P. 

35.  —  1703-4,  Mar.  15.  —  John  Danforth,  Dorchester,  Mass.     The 
Vile  I  Prophanations    of    Prosperity  |  By   the  |  Degenerate  |  Among 
the  People  of  God  :  |  In  part  Arraigned  in  the  Name  of  the  Glo-  | 
rious  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  at  the  Bar  |  of  the  Great  and  General  Court 
and  I  Assembly  of  the  Province  of  the  Mas-  |  sachusetts-Bay,  in  New- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY,  521 

Eng-land :  at  their  |  Fast  in  the  Council  Chamber  in  |  Boston,  March 
15th.  1703-4.  I  In  a  Sermon  Upon  |  Jer.  xxii.  21.  ["A  Declaration 
Against  Prophaneness  and  Immoralities,"  by  Governor  Dudley  is 
appended,  which  is  dated  March  24,  1703,  and  was  also  issued  in 
broadside.  —  An.]  Boston  :  Printed  for  Samuel  Phillips,  1704.  16°, 
pp.  (2)  44.  —  An.    Ath.     M.     P. 

36.  — 1703-4,  Mar.  15.  —  Samuel  Willard,  Boston,  Mass.  Israel's  | 
True  Safety :  |  Offered  in  a  |  Sermon,  |  Before  His  Excellency,  |  the 
Honourable  Council,  |  and  Representatives,  of  |  the  Province  of  the 
Massachusetts-  |  Bay  in  New  England,  On  March  |  15th,  1704.  Be- 
ing a  Day  Set  |  a  part  for  Solemn  Fasting  |  and  Prayer.  [Rom. 
viii.  31.]  Boston:  .  .  B.  Green,  for  Samuel  Phillips,  .  .  .  1704.  16°, 
pp.  (2)  34.  —  An.     Ath.     M.     P. 

37.  — 1705,  Dec.     28.  —  Samuel    WiUard,     Boston,    Mass.     A  | 
Thanksgiving   Sermon,    |  Preach'd    at  |  Boston   in   New-England,  | 
December,  1705.  |  On  the  Return  of  a  |  Gentleman  |  from  his  Travels. 
[Psa.  Ixvi.  20.]     [The  gentleman  was  Mr.  Jonathan  Belcher,  Sewall's 
Diary,  ii.  151.]    London :  Printed  for  Ralph  Smith,  .  .  .  1709.     8°, 
pp.  16.  — Ath.     Ct.     P. 

38.  —  [1703-1706.]  —Joseph  Belcher,  Dedham,  Mass.  Two  Ser- 
mons I  Preached  in  Dedham.  N.  E.  |  The  First  on  a  Day  set  apart 
for  I  Prayer  with  Fasting,  |  to  Implore  Spiritual  Blessings  |  on  the 
Rising  I  Generation.  |  The  Other  |  (some  time  after)  in  Private,  to  a  | 
Considerable  Number  of  Young  |  Persons  in  the  aforesaid  Town.  .  .  . 
[Matt.  xix.  13.]  (1)  Boston:  .  .  B.  Green  for  Samuel  Phillips,  .  .  . 
1710.  16°,  pp.  (4)  30, 58.  —  An.  (2)  Reprinted  in  "  Dedham  Pulpit," 
pp.  141  ff. 

39.  —  1707,  Apr.  16.  —  William  Williams,  Hatfield,  Mass.     The  | 
Danger  |  Of  Not  Reforming  |  Known   Evils  |  or,  |  The    Inexcusable- 
ness  of  a  Knowing  |  People  Refusing  to  be  |  Reformed.  |  As  it  was 
set  forth  on  a  Day  of  |  Publick  Fasting,  April  16.  1707,  |  at  Hatfield. 
[1  Sam.  iii.  13.]  Boston :   .  .  B.  Green,  1707.     8°,  pp.  (2)  30.  —  Ct. 

40.  —  1711,  Mar.  28.  —  Cotton  Mather,  Boston,  Mass.  Orphanotro- 
phium.  I  Or,  |  Orphans  Well-provided  for.  |  An  Essay,  |  On  the  Care 
taken  in  the  |  Divine  Providence  |  For  Children  when  their  |  Parents 
forsake  them.  |  With  Proper  Advice  to  both  |  Parents  and  Children, 
that  I  the  Care  of  Haven  may  be  the  more  Conspicuously  &  Com- 
forta-  I  bly.  Obtained  for  them.  |  Offered  in  a  Sermon,  on  a  Day  |  of 
Prayer,  kept  with  a  Religious  |  Family  [28d.  1  m.  1711],  whose  | 
Honourable  Parents  were  late  |  by  Mortality  taken  from  them.  [Psa. 
xxvii.  10.]  Boston  :  .  .  B.  Green,  1711.  16°,  pp.  (2)  68.  —  Ath. 
M.    P. 

41.  —  1711,  Dec.  18.  —  Benjamin  Wiadsworth,  Boston,  Mass.     A  | 
Sermon  |  Preach'd   on   a   Fast-Day,   kept  by   the  |  First  Church  of 
Christ  in  Boston,  |  on  Decemb.  18.   1711.     Which  Fast  |  was  Occa- 


522  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

sioned  by  the  Burning  of  their  |  Meeting-House,  on  Octob.  2,  1711. 
[Psa.  xxvi.  8.]  [No.  iii.  of  Five  k^crmons.]  Boston :  .  .  J.  Allen, 
for  Nicholas  Buttolph,  .  .  .  1714.  12°,  pp.  xi.  (1)  168  [61-96].  — 
An.     P. 

42. — 1713,  Nov.  12.  Benjamin  Wadsworth,  Boston,  Mass.  A 
Thanksgiving  |  Sermon,  |  On  Novemb.  12.  1713.  Occasioned  |  by 
God's  Goodness  in  providing  a  |  New  Meeting-House,  for  the  First  | 
(or  Old)  Church  in  Boston,  N.  E.  |  Their  Former  being  Burnt  some  | 
time  before.  [Zech.  iv.  7.]  [No.  v.  of  Five  Sermons.  The  half-title 
on  page  141].  Boston:  .  .  J.  Allen,  .  .  .  1714.  12°,  pp.  xi.  (1) 
168  [141-168].— An.     P. 

43.  — 1715,  Aug.  2.  —  Benjamin  Colraan,  Boston,  Mass.  A  Gospel 
Ministry  |  The  rich  Gift  of  the  |  Ascended  Saviour  |  Unto  His  | 
Church.  I  As  it  was  Represented  in  a  Sermon  |  preached  August  2. 

1715.  By  I  Mr.  Benjamin  Colman,  |  On  a  Day  of  Prayer  kept  by  His 
Con-  I  gregation,  to  implore  the  Divine  |  Conduct  and  Blessing  with 
them,  in  |  their  election  of  Another  into  the  |  Pastoral  Office  among 
them.  [Eph.  iv.  8,  11.]  Boston  :  .  .  T.  Fleet  and  T.  Crump  for 
Samuel  Gerrish,  .  .   .  1715.     12°,  pp.  48.  — Ct. 

44.  — 1715-16,  Mar.  22.  — Benjamin  Colman,  Boston,  Mass.  A 
brief  |  Enquiry  |  into  the  Reasons  |  why  the  People  of  God  have 
been  )  wont  to  bring  into  their  |  Penitential  Confessions,  |  the  Sins 
of  their  |  Fathers  and  Ancestors,  |  in  Times  long  since  past.  |  Preached 
on  a  Day  of  General  |  Prayer  and  Fasting,  |  March  22.  1716.  [Psa. 
cvi.  6.]    Boston :  .  .  T.  Fleet  and  T.  Crump,  for  Samuel  Gerrish,  .  .  . 

1716.  16°,  pp.  32.— An.    Ath.     C.     Ct.    M.     P. 

45.  — 1716,  Aug.  23.  —  Benjamin  Colman,  Boston,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon I  Preach'd  at  |  Boston  in  New-England.  |  On  Thursday  the  23d. 
of  August,  I  1716.  I  Being  the  Day  of  Publick  Thanksgiving,  |  for 
the  Suppression  of  the  late  Vile  |  and  Traiterous  Rebellion  in  |  Great 
Britain.  [1  Kings  x.  9.]  Boston :  .  .  T.  Fleet  and  T.  Crump,  .  .  . 
1716.    8°,  pp.  28.  — An.    Ath.    H.    M. 

46.  —  1716-17,  Jan.  8.  —  Cotton  Mather,  Boston,  Mass.  Zelotes.  |  A 
Zeal  I  For  the  |  House  of  God ;  !  Blown  up,  in  |  a  Sermon  unto  an  | 
Assembly  of  Christians:  [at  the  Dedication  of  the  New  Meeting- 
House  on  Church  Green  in  Summer  Street]  in  the  South-Part  of  Bos- 
ton I  On  8.  d.  xi.  m.  1716, 17.  |  A  Day  of  Prayer  kept  by  them,  |  at 
their  First  Entrance  |  into  a  New  Edifice  Erected  |  by  them,  for  the 
Publick  Worship  of  God  our  Saviour.  [John  ii.  17.]  Boston  :  .  . 
J.  Allen,  for  Nicholas  Boone,  1717.    12°,  pp.  44.  —  An.     Ath.     H.     P. 

47. —  1716-17,   Jan.    8. — Benjamin   Wadsworth,    Boston,    Mass. 
The  I  Churches  |  Shall  Know  that  |  Christ  |  Searcheth  the  Hearts.  | 
Set  forth  in  |  the  first  Sermon  that  was  |  preach'd  in  the  New  Meet- 
ing- I  House  in  Summer-street,  Boston,  |  being  a  |  day  of  Fasting  and 
Prayer ;  to  ob-  |  tain  Gods  gracious  presence  with,  1  and  Blessing  on. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY,  523 

the  Congregation  |  who  designed  to  attend  God's  |  publiek  Worship 
in  that  Place  ;  |  and  now  publish'd  at  their  desire.  [Rev.  ii.  23.] 
Boston:  .  .  J.  Allen  for  N.  Boone,  .  .  .  [1717.]  12°,  pp.  (2)  34.— 
An.     Ath.     P. 

48.  — 1717,  Aug.  14.  —  James  Keith  and  Samuel  Danforth,  Bridge- 
water  and  Taunton,  Mass.  Bridgewater's  Monitor.  |  Two  Sermons,  | 
Preached  unto  a  |  New  Assembly  |  of  Christians  |  at  Bridgewater.  | 
On,  14.  d.  vi.  m.  1717.  |  .  .  .  |  at  their  Entering  into  the  |  New-Edi- 
fice. I  The  first  by  James  Keith  |  •  •  .  The  second  [The  Building  of 
Sion  I  carryed  on  by  Praying.]  By  Samuel  Danforth.  (1)  Boston : 
1717.  12°,  pp.  39.  [Sibley's  "  Harvard  Graduates,"  iii.  249.]  (2)  Bos- 
ton :.  .  William  McAlpine,  1768.  12°,  pp.  (2)  v.  26.  — M.  Y.  [James 
Keith's  sermon  from  Ezek.  xxxvi.  37,  with  a  different  title-page.] 

49.  — 1717,  Sept.  5.  —  Thomas  Prince,  Boston,  Mass.  God  brings 
to  the  Desired  Haven.  |  A  |  Thanksgiving-Sermon,  |  deliver'd  |  at  | 
the  Lecture  in  Boston.  N.  E.  |  On  Thursday,  September  5.  1717.  | 
Upon  Occasion  of  the  Author's  safe  |  Arrival  thro'  many  great  Haz- 
ards I  &  Deliverances,  Especially  on  the  |  Seas,  in  above  Eight  Years 
Absence  |  from  his  Dear  &  Native  Country.  .  .  .  [Psa.  xxii.  22-25.] 
Boston:  .   .  B.Green,  .  .  .  1717.    sm.  8°,  pp.  (2)  iii.  32.  — Ath.    M. 

50.  — 1717,  Nov.  28.  — John  Barnard,  Marblehead,  Mass.  The  | 
Nature  and  Manner  |  Of  |  Man's  Blessing  |  God  ;  |  With  Our  |  Obli- 
gations I  thereto.  |  A  Sermon  |  Preached  at  Salem,  upon  a  |  Public 
Thanksgiving,  |  the  Thursday  after  the  Death  of  the  |  Reverend,  | 
Mr.  George  Curwin  ;  |  Who  departed  this  life,  Novemb.  23d,  |  1717. 
In  the  35th  Year  of  his  Age.  [Psa.  ciii.  1.]  Boston :  .  .  T.  Crump, 
for  Samuel  Gerrish,  .  .  .  1717.     8°,  pp.  (2)  ii.  42.  — Ath.     M.     P. 

51. —  1718,  Dec.  11.  —  Increase  Mather,  Boston,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon I  Wherein  is  Shewed,  |  I.  That  the  Ministers  of  the  Gospel  |  need, 
and  ought  to  desire  the  |  Prayers  of  the  Lord's  People  |  for  them.  |  II. 
That  the  People  of  God  ought  |  to  Pray  for  his  Ministers.  |  Preached 
at  Roxbury,  October  29.  1718.  |  W^hen  |  Mr.  Thomas  Walter  |  Was 
Ordained  a  Pastor  in  that  Church,  by  |  his  Grand-Father.  [Heb.  xiii. 
18.]  Boston :  .  .  S.  Kneeland,  for  J.  Edwards,  1718.  8°,  pp.  (2)  ii. 
35.  —  An.  Ath.  M.  P.  Y.  [The  manuscript  notes  of  the  above 
sermon  [8°,  pp.  8.],  in  the  library  of  Hon.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  in- 
dicate that  it  was  preached,  probably  with  additions,  on  the  "  Thanks- 
giving throughout  y®  Province  Dec^"  11.  1718."] 

52.  — 1719,  Apr.  2.  —  Increase  Mather,  Boston,  Mass.  Believers 
encouraged  to  Pray  |  from  the  Consideration  of  |  Christs  Interceding 
for  them,  and  with  them.  Boston:  .  .  B.Green,  for  Daniel  Hench- 
man, .  .  .  1719.  12°,  pp.  98-128  of  "  Five  Sermons  on  Several  Sub- 
jects."—  An. 

53.  — 1721,  May  10.  —  Cotton  Mather,  Boston,  Mass.  A  Vision  in 
the  Temple.  |  The  |  Lord  of   Hosts,  |  Adored ;  |  And  the  |  King  of 


524         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

Glory  I  Proclaimed ;  |  On  a  Day  of  Prayer  Kept  [May  |  10.  1721]  at 
the  Opening  of  the  New  |  Brick  Meeting-House  in  the  North  |  part 
of  Boston,  by  the  Ministers  of  |  the  City,  with  the  Society  which  | 
Built  it,  &  this  Day  Swarmed  into  it.  [Psa.  xxiv.  10.]  Boston : 
Printed  for  Robert  Starkey,  .  .  .  1721.  16°,  pp.  (4)  45.— An.  P. 
[Haven's  List  has  two  editions  in  1721.  The  half-title  is  "  Two 
Sermons  Preached,"  etc.,  the  other  being  the  next  number.] 

54.  — 1721,  May  10.  —  Benjamin  Wads  worth,  Boston,  Mass.  The  | 
Lord  Jesus  |  Walking  in  the  midst  of  the  |  Churches.  |  A  |  Ser- 
mon I  Preach'd  in  the  New  Brick  Meeting-  |  House,  in  Middle-street, 
Boston,  May  |  10.  1721.  Which  was  kept  as  a  Day  |  of  Fasting  and 
Prayer,  (Being  the  |  first  time  of  Publick  Worship  there)  |  by  the 
Society  which  Built  the  |  House  ;'  and  is  now  Publish'd  at  |  their  De- 
sire. [Rev.  ii.  1.]  Boston :  Printed  for  Robert  Starkey,  1721.  16°, 
pp.  (2)  34.  — An.     P. 

55.  — 1721,  July  12.  —  Eliphalet  Adams,  New  London,  Conn.  A 
Sermon  |  preached  at  |  Windham,  |  July  12th.  1721.  |  On  a  Day  of 
Thanksgiving  |  For  the  Late  remarkable  Success  |  of  the  |  Gospel  | 
Among  Them.  [1  Thess.  iii.  8.]  (1)  New  London:  ....  T.Green, 
1721.  12°,  pp.  (2)  vi.  40.  — L.  P.  (2)  Windham:  .  .  John  Byrne, 
1800.  8°,  pp.  35.  —  Ct.  U.  •  [The  sermon  is  erroneously  attributed 
on  the  title-page  of  the  second  edition  to  Samuel  Whiting,  of  Windham, 
Conn.] 

56.  —  1722,  Nov.  8.  —  James  Allin,  Brookline,  Mass.     What  shall 
I    Render!  |  A    Thanksgiving  |  Sermon  |  Preached    at    Brooklin,  | 
Nov.    8th,    1722.   |  From    Psalm    cxvi.    12.     Boston,    N.   E. :  .  .  B. 
Green  for    Samuel  Gerrish,  .  .  .  1722.     16°,    pp.  (4)27.  — C.     Ct. 
P.    Y. 

57.-1722,  Nov.  13.— Joseph  Sewall,  Boston,  Mass.  The  Holy 
Spirit  I  the  |  Gift  of  God  |  Our  Heavenly  Father,  |  To  them  that  Ask 
Him.  I  A  Sermon  |  Preach'd  on  a  Day  of  Prayer  |  with  Fasting, 
kept  by  the  |  South  Church  in  Boston,  to  Ask  |  of  God  the  Effusion 
of  His  Spirit  |  on  the  Rising  Generation,  Novemb.  |  13th  1722.  .  .  . 
[Luke  xi.  13.]  Boston :  Printed  for  D.  Henchman,  1728.  16°,  pp. 
(4)32.  — Ath.     C.    H.    M.    P.    Y. 

58.  — 1722-3,  Mar.  5.  —  Benjamin  Colman  and  William  Cooper, 
Boston,  Mass.  Two  |  Sermons  |  Preached  in  Boston,  |  March  5, 
1723.  I  On  a  Day  of  Prayer,  |  Had  by  the  Church  and  Congregation  | 
usually  meeting  in  Brattle-Street,  |  to  ask  the  Effusion  of  the  Spirit 
of  Grace  |  on  their  Children,  and  on  the  Children  |  of  the  Town.  [I. 
"  God's  Concern  for  a  Godly  Seed,"  etc.  Mai.  ii.  15.  —  W.  C.  IL 
"The  Duty  of  Parents  to  pray,"  etc.  1  Chron.  xxix.  19.  — B.  C] 
Boston:  .  .  S.  Kneeland,  .  .  .  1723.  12°, pp.  (4)  iv.  38:  (2)  ii.  36  (1). 
—  An.    Ath.    Ct.    L.    M. 

59.  —  1724,  Mar.  26.  —  Daniel  Brewer,  Springfield,  Mass.     God's  | 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  525 

Help  to  be  Sought,  in  Time  of  |  War  |  with  a  Due  Sense  of  the  Van- 
ity I  of  What  Help  Man  can  afPord :  |  shewed  at  Springfield,  |  March 
26,  1724.  [Psa.  cviii.  12.]  Boston :  .  .  B.  Green,  1724.  8°,  pp.  (4) 
19.  — M. 

60.  —  1725,  June  4.  —  Thomas   Cheever,  Chelsea,  Mass.      Two  |    • 
Sermons  i  Preached  at  |  Maldon.  |  The  First,  August  26,  1722.     On  | 
the   Sabbath.   |   The    Second   on   a  Particular  |  Fast,  June  4.  1725. 
[Running  title  of   the  second,  "  Because  there   is   Wrath,  beware." 
Text,  Job  xxxvi.  18.]     [Boston:]   Printed  for,  and  sold  by  Nicholas 
Boone,  .  .  .  1726.     12°,  pp.  (2)  94.  — P. 

61.  — 1726,  Oct.  5.  —  Daniel  Baker,  Sherborn,  Mass.  Two  |  Ser- 
mons, I  The  First  |  Preached  at  Dedhara,  |  October  5th,  1726.  |  On 
a  Day  of  Prayer  with  Fasting  There,  |  to  Ask  the  Pourings  out  of 
the  Spirit  |  of  Grace  on  Them,  |  and  Especially  on  |  their  children.  | 
The  Other  |  Preached  at  Sherbourn,  |  On  a  like  Occasion,  May  10. 
1727.  [1  Chron.  xxviii.  9.]  [There  is  a  half-title,  and  the  second  has 
a  separate  title-page.  See  next  number.]  Boston:  Printed  for  D. 
Henchman,  .  .  .  1728.     12°,  pp.  (2)  vi.  88.  — P. 

62.  —  1727,  May  10.  —  Daniel  Baker,  Sherborn,  Mass.  Early 
Piety  I  The  |  Duty  &  Interest  of  Youth.  |  As  it  was  shown,  |  in  |  A 
Sermon  |  Preached  at  Sherbourn,  on  May  10.  |  1727.  Being  a  Day  set 
apart  there,  |  for  Prayer  with  Fasting.  |  To  Implore  |  the  Effusions 
of  God's  Spirit  on  |  the  Rising  Generation.  |  .  .  .  [Prov.  iii.  1,  2.] 
Boston:  Printed  for  D.  Henchman,  1728.     12°,  pp.  64.  — P. 

63.  — 1727,  Nov.  1.  —  James  AUin,  Brookline,  Mass.  Thunder  and 
Earthquake,  A  Loud  and  |  A^vful  Call  to  Reformation.  |  Consider' d 
in  I  A  Sermon  |  Preached  at  Brooklyn,  |  November  the  First;  | 
Upon  a  Special  Fast,  |  Occasion'd  by  the  |  Earthquake,  |  Which 
happen'd  in  the  Evening  after  |  the  29th  Day  of  October  1727.  [Isa. 
xxix.  6.]  (1)  Boston,  N.  E. :  .  .  Gamaliel  Rogers  for  Joseph  Ed- 
wards, 1727.     16°,  pp.  (4)49  (1).— Ath.     (2)  Same.— An.     H.     Y. 

64.  — 1727,  Nov.  1.  —  Samuel  Wigglesworth,  Ipswich,  Mass.     A  | 
Religious  Fear  of   God's  |  Tokens,  |  Explained  and  Urged;  |  in  a  | 
Sermon  |  Preached  at  Ipswich,  |  November  1.  1727.     Being  a  Day  of 
Humiliation  on  account  |  of  the  terrible  |  Earthquake,  |  October  29. 
1727.     [Psa.  Ixv.  8.]     Boston :  Printed  for  D.  Henchman  &  T.  Han- 
cock, .  .  .  1728.    8°,  pp.  (4)  iii.  42.  — Ct.    P. 

65.  — 1727,  Nov.  2.  —  John  Barnard,  Marblehead,  Mass.  Earth- 
quakes I  under  the  |  Divine  Government.  |  A  Sermon,  |  preach'd 
November  2.  1727.  at  the  Lecture  in  |  Marblehead  after  the  terrible 
Earthquake.  [Isa.  xxix.  6.]  [With  "  Two  Discourses  to  Young 
Persons."]  Boston:  .  .  S.  Gerrish,  1727.  12°,  pp.  71-99  (3).  — Ath. 
Ot.     M.     P. 

66.  — 1727,  Nov.  2.  —  Benjamin  Colman,  Boston,  Mass.  The 
Earth  devoured  by  the  Curse.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  Preached  at  Boston  | 


526         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

Novem.  2,  1727.  |  On  a  Day  of  Prayer  and  Fasting",  |  four  days  after 
the  Earthquake.  [Isa.  xxiv.  6.]  [Four  sermons  on  the  Earthquake, 
pp.  61-86.]  Boston :  Printed  for  J.  Phillips  .  .  .  and  T.  Hancock,  .  .  . 
1727.    8°,  pp.  61-86.  —  An.    Ath.     Ct.    H.    L.    M. 

67.  — 1727,  Nov.  2  and  9.  —  Thomas  Prince,  Boston,  Mass.  Earth- 
quakes the  Works  of  God  &  Tokens  |  of  his  just  Displeasure.  |  Two 
Sermons  |  On  |  Psal.  xviii.  7.  |  At  the  Particular  Fast  in  Boston, 
Nov.  2.  I  and  the  General  Thanksgiving,  Nov.  9.  |  Occasioned  |  by 
the  late  dreadful  |  Earthquake.  |  Wherein  |  among  other  things  is 
offered  a  brief  Account  of  |  the  Natural  Causes  of  these  Operations  in 
the  I  Hands  of  God :  With  a  Relation  of  some  late  |  terrible  Ones  in 
other  Parts  of  the  World,  as  well  |  as  those  that  have  been  perceived 
in  New-England  |  since  its  Settlement  by  English  Inhabitants.  (1) 
Boston :  Printed  for  D.  Henchman,  .  .  .  1727.  8°,  pp.  (6)  45  (.3).  — 
An.  Ath.  H.  P.  (2)  Same.  "The  Second  Edition  Corrected." 
...1727.  8°,  pp.  (6)45(3).— Ath.  Ct.  M.  Y.  (3)  The  First 
Sermon  Reprinted.  Boston :  .  .  .  .  D.  Fowle,  1755.  12°,  pp.  23.  — 
Ath.  (4)  The  Same  Sermon  Reprinted.  Boston:  .  .  ,  .  D.  Fowle, 
and  by  Z.  Fowle,  1804.     12%  pp.  24. 

68.  —  1727,  Nov.  3.  —  John  Barnard,  Andover,  Mass.  Sin  testify 'd 
against  |  by  |  Heaven  and  Earth.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  preached  on  the 
Friday  |  after  the  g^eat  and  terrible  |  Earthquake,  |  which  occur'd 
on  the  I  Lord's-Day-Evening,  |  between  the  29th  and  30th  of  Octo- 
ber, I  1727.  [Job  XX.  27.]  Boston  :  Printed  for  John  Phillips,  .  .  . 
1727.     12°,  pp.  32.— P. 

69.  — 1727,  Nov.  3.  —  John  Cotton,  Newton,  Mass.  A  |  Holy  Fear 
of  God,  I  And  His  |  Judgments,  |  Exhorted  To :  |  In  A  |  Sermon  | 
Preach' d  at  Newton,  Nov.  3.  1727.  |  On  a  Day  of  Fasting  and 
Prayer,  |  Occasioned  by  the  Terrible  |  Earthquake  |  that  shook  New- 
England, —  on  the  I  Lord's-Day  Night  before.  With  an  Appendix 
containing  a  Remarkable  |  Account  of  the  Extraordinary  Impressions 
made  |  on  the  Inhabitants  of  Haverhill  &c.  [Psa.  cxix.  120.]  Bos- 
ton:.  .  B.  Green,  Jun.,  1727.     8°,  pp.  (4)  xvi.  24  (7).  —An.     Ath. 

70.  — 1727,  Nov.  3.  —  Thomas  Paine,  Boston,  Mass.     The  Doctrine 
of  Earthquakes.  |  Two  |  Sermons  |  Preached  at  a  particular  Fast  in  | 
Weymouth,  Nov.  3.  1727.      The   Friday  after  |  The  Earthquake.  | 
Wherein  this  terrible  Work  appears  not  to  |  proceed  from  natural 
Second  Causes,  in  any  |  orderly  Way  of  their  Producing :  |  But  from  | 
the  Mighty  Power  of  God  immediately  in-  |  terposing ;  and  is  to  the 
World,  I  A  I  token  of   God's   Anger,  &c.  |  and  |  Presage  of  Terrible 
Changes.  |  With  Examples   of   many  Earthquakes  in  His-  |  tory, — 
illustrating  this  Doctrine.     [Job  ix.  6.]     Boston:  .  .  D.  Henchman, 
.  .  .  1728.    8°,  pp.  87.  —  M.    P. 

71.  —  1727,  Nov.  7.  —  John  Danforth,  Dorchester,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon I  Occasioned  by  the  Late  Great  |  Earthquake,  |  And  the  Terrors 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  527 

that  attended  it.  |  Prepared  for,  and  (in  Part)  Delivered  at  a  |  Fast 
in  Dorchester,  Nov.  7.  1727.  And  |  Transcribed  for  the  Press  with 
some  I  Enlargement.  [Ex.  ix.  33,  34.],  Boston:  .  .  Gamaliel  Rogers, 
...1728.     16^pp.  (4)46  (5).  — An.     Ct.     H.    M.     P. 

72.-1727,  Nov.  16.  —Nathaniel  Gookin,  Hampton,  N.  H.  The 
Day  of  Trouble  near,  The  Tokens  |  of  it,  and  a  Due  Preparation  for 
it ;  I  In  I  Three  Sermons  |  on  Ezekiel  vii.  7.  |  The  First  of  which  was 
Preached  on  The  Lord's  |  Day.  Oct.  29.  1727.  Which  was  the  Day 
ini-  I  mediately  Preceeding  the  late  Earthquake ;  |  The  other  Two 
were  Prepared  for,  and  one  of  them  |  was  Preach'd  on  a  Day  of  Pub- 
lick  Fasting  and  |  Prayer.  Nov.  16.  |  To  which  is  added,  |  a  Sermon 
on  Deuteronomy  v.  29.  Preach'd  the  Wed-  |  nesday  after  that  Awak- 
ening Providence ;  |  And  an  Appendix,  |  Giving  some  account  of  the 
Earthquake  as  it  |  was  in  Hampton.  And  something  Remarkable 
of  I  Thunder  and  Lightning  in  that  Town,  |  in  the  year  1727.  Boston: 
Printed  for  D.  Henchman,  1728.     8°,  pp.  (6)  75  (2).  —  An. 

73.  —  1727,  Nov.  16.  —  Nathaniel  Morrill,  Rye,  N.  H.  The  |  Lord's 
Voice  in  the  Earthquake  |  Crieth  to  |  Careless  &  Secure  Sinners,  | 
Shewed  in  a  |  Sermon  |  Preached  in  the  Parish  of  Rye,  in  New-Castle, 
in  I  New-Hampshire,  |  in  New-England,  Novemb.  16,  |  1727.  Being 
a  Day  of  Publick  Fasting  thro'out  |  the  Province,  occasioned  by  the 
late  awful  and  |  terrible  |  Earthquake.  .  .  .  [Micah  vi.  9.]  Boston  in 
New  England :  Printed  for  Richard  Jenness  and  Joseph  Lock,  in  the 
Parish  of  Rye,  1728.     8°,  pp.  (4)  iv.  32.  —  An. 

74.  — 1727,  Nov.  29 — Edward  Payson,  Rowley,  Mass.     Pious  | 
Heart-Elations :  |  being  |  the  Substance  of  a  |  Sermon  |  in  Publick  | 
on  November  29th.  in  Consideration  |  of  present  Awful  Providences  | 
amongst  us  ;   and  on  the  Sabbath  |  following  in  the  Forenoon.  |  De- 
cember  3*   1727.  I  From   those   words   of  Jeremiah,  |  in  |  Lamenta- 
tions iii.  41.  .  .  .  Boston:  .  .  B.   Green  for  J.  Phillips,  .  .  .  1728. 
16^  pp.  (2)  23.  —  P. 

75.  — 1727,  Dec.  21.— Samuel  Phillips,  Andover,  Mass.  Three 
plain  I  Practical  Discourses,  |  Preach'd  at  Andover.  [1.  October  29th, 
Day  preceding  the  Earthquake.  2.  December  21st,  1727,  Public  Fast, 
Occasioned  by  the  Continuance  of  the  Earthquake.]  [Isa.  cxix.  120. 
Isa.  xxvii.  8.]  Boston :  Printed  for  J.  PhiUips,  .  .  .  1728.  12°,  pp. 
(2)  vi.  226  (1).  —  H. 

76.  — 1727,  Dec.  21 .  —John  Rogers,  Boxford,  Mass.  The  |  Nature 
and  Necessity  |  of  |  Repentance,  |  with  |  the  Means  and  Motives  to 
it.  I  A  I  Discourse  |  Occasioned  by  the  |  Earthquake.  |  Preached  at 
Boxford,  I  in  part  on  the  |  Publick  Fast.  Dec.  21.  1727.  [Ezra  xviii. 
30.]   Boston  :  Printed  for  S.  Gerrish,  .  .   .  1728.  8°,  pp.  78.  —  Ath.   P. 

77.  — 1727,  Dec.  21.  —  Joseph  Sewall,  Boston,  Mass.     Repentance  | 
The  sure  Way  to  |  Escape  Destruction.  |  Two  Sermons  |  on  Jer.  18. 
7,  8.  I  Preach'd  Deceii^ber  21st.  on  a  Publick  |  Fast  occasioned  by  the 


528         FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

Earthquake  |  the  Night  after  the  Lord's-Day  Octoh.  29th.  |  And  on 
the  Lord's-  |  Day  December  24th.  1727.  Boston :  Printed  for  D. 
Henchman,  1727.     16°,  pp.  (4)  55.— An.     Ath.     M.     P. 

78.  — 1727,  Dec.  21.  —  William  Williams,  Weston,  Mass.  Divine 
Warnings  |  To  be  received  with  |  Faith  &  Fear,  |  and  |  Improved  to 
excite  to  all  proper  |  Methods  for  our  own  safety  |  and  our  Families.  | 
Shew'd  in  a  Discourse  on  Heb.  xi.  7,  |  on  the  Publick  Fast,  Dec.  21. 
1727.  I  on  occasion  of  the  terrible  Earthquake  |  Oct.  29,  30.  &  fre- 
quently since  repeated.  |  To  which  is  added,  |  a  Discourse  on  Prov.  2, 
1-6.  Boston :  Printed  for  Samuel  Gerrish,  1728.  16°,  pp.  (2)  xii.  72, 
132.  —  Ct. 

79. —  1727-8,  Mar.  21.  —  John  Brown,  Haverhill,  Mass.  Solemn 
Covenanting  with  God,  one  |  of  the  best  means  to  prevent  |  fatal  De- 
clensions. I  A  I  Discourse  |  before  |  Publick  Renewal  of  Covenant  |  in 
Haverhil  |  On  the  Day  of  the  General  Fast:  |  March  21.  1727,  8. 
Preached  partly  on  that  day,  partly  on  |  the  Sabbath  before.  [Deut. 
xxix.  10-21.]  Boston,  N.  E. :  Printed  for  Samuel  Gerrish,  .  .  .  1728. 
8°,  pp.  (4)36.— Ath.     Ct.     P. 

80.  — 1727-8,  Mar.  21.  — Jonathan  Townsend,  Needham,  Mass. 
An  Exhortation  or  Call  to  a  professing  Peo-  |  pie  to  return  unto  the 
Lord.  I  Being  the  Substance  of  |  Two  Sermons  |  Preach'd  on  March 
21st  1727,  8.  I  Which  was  observ'd  throughout  the  Province  |  as  a 
Day  of  I  Publick  Fasting  and  Prayer.  [Hosea  vi.  1.]  [Boston:] 
Printed  for  N.  Belknap,  .  .  .  1729.     12°,  (4)  ii.  46.  —An. 

81.  — 1731-2,  Jan.  25.  —  Benjamin  Colman,  Boston,  Mass.  Min- 
isters and  People  |  under  special  Obligations  |  to  Sanctity,  Humility 
&  Gratitude  |  for  the  great  Grace  given  Them  |  in  the  Preached 
Gospel.  I  A  Sermon  |  On  a  Day  of  Prayer,  |  Kept  by  the  North 
Church  in  Boston  |  on  Tuesday,  January  25.  173i  |  To  implore  the 
Divine  Direction  in  |  their  Election  of  Another  Pastor.  .  .  .  [Eph. 
iii.  8.]  Boston :  .  .  S.  Kneeland  &  T.,Green,  for  S.  Gerrish  .  .  1732. 
8°,  pp.  (4)  20.  —  An.     Ath.    Ct.     M. 

82.  —  1731-2,  Jan.  25.  —  Thomas  Prince,  Boston,  Mass.  The  Dy- 
ing Prayer  of  Christ,  for  his  People's  |  Preservation  and  Unity.  |  A  | 
Sermon  |  to  the  |  North  Church  in  Boston,  |  January  xxv.  1731,  2.  | 
Being  a  Day  of  Prayer  for  the  Divine  |  Direction,  in  their  Choice  of 
Another  Colleague  |  Pastor,  to  succeed  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cotton  Mather. 
[John  xvii.  11.]  Boston,  New-England:  .  .  S.  Kneeland  &  T.  Green 
for  S.  Gerrish,  .  .  .  1732.     16°,  pp.  (4)  26.  —  An.     Ath.     Ct.     M. 

83.  — 1733,    Apr.  18.— William  Billings,  Windham,  Conn.     A  | 
Warning  |  to  |  God's  Covenant  People,  |  against  |  Breaking  the  Cove- 
nant of  I  God  they  are  under.  |  A  Discourse  |  On  Jeremiah  xi.  10, 11.  | 
Composed  by  the  Reverend  |  William  Billings,  M.  A.  |  Late  Pastor 
of   the  Church  of   Christ  |  in  Windham- Village.  |  And   Preach'd  by 
him  on  the  18th  of  April  |  1733,  it  being  the  Anniversary  Fast-  |  Day 


BIBLIOGRAPHY,  529 

then,  &  the  last  day  of  his  Preaching.    New  London:  ....  T.Green, 
1733.     16°,  pp.  (6)30.  — Y. 

84.  — 1733,  Apr.  18.  — Marston  Cabot,  KiUingly,  Conn.  The 
Nature  of  Religious  Fasting  Opened.  |  In  |  Two  short  Discourses  | 
Deliver'd  |  At  Thompson  in  Kellingley,  |  Connecticut  Colony.  |  On  a 
Day  of  publick  Fasting  and  |  Prayer,  |  April  18. 1733.  [Zech.  vii.  5.] 
Boston :  Printed  for  John  Eliot,  .  .  .  1734.  8°,  pp.  (4)  ii.  18.  —  An. 
Ath.     Ct.     H.     L.    M.     P. 

85.  — 1734,  June  18.  —  John  Webb,  Boston,  Mass.  The  Duty  of  ^ 
Degenerate  People  to  pray  |  for  the  Reviving  of  God's  Work.  |  A  | 
Sermon  |  Preach'd  June  18.  1734.  |  Being  a  |  Day  of  Prayer  with 
Fasting,  |  Observed  by  the  |  New  North  Church  |  in  Boston.  [Hab. 
iii.  2.]  Boston :  .  .  .  .  S.  Kneeland  and  T.  Green,  .  .  .  1734.  8°,  pp. 
(4)41.  — An.    Ath.     C.    H.    M.     P. 

86.  —  1734,  Nov.  7.  —  Marston  Cabot,  Killingly,  Conn.  The 
Nature  of  Religious  Thanksgiving  Opened.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  Preach'd  | 
At  Thompson  in  Kellingley,  |  Connecticut  Colony.  |  On  a  Day  of 
Publick  Thanksgiving,  |  November  7.  1734.  [Deut.  xvi.  13-1.5.] 
Boston:  N.  E.  .  .  S.  Kneeland  &  T.  Green,  .  .  .  1735.  8°,  pp.  (4) 
23.  — C.    Ct.    L. 

87.  —  1736,  Dec.  10.  —  Benjamin  Colman,  Boston,  Mass.  Right- 
eousness and  Compassion  |  the  |  Duty  and  Character  |  of  |  Pious 
Rulers.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  Preach'd  on  a  Day  of  |  Private  Fasting  and 
Prayer  |  In  the  Council  Chamber  in  Boston  |  December  10th  1736.  | 
Before  |  His  Excellency  the  Governour  |  and  the  |  General  Court. 
[Zech.  vii.  8,  9.]     Boston :  .  .  J.  Draper,  .  .  .  1736.     8°,  pp.  (6)  31. 

—  An.     Ath.     C.     L.     P.    Y. 

88.  — 1738,  Nov.  23.  — Samuel  Dexter,  Dedhara,  Mass.  Our 
Fathers  God,  the  Hope  of  Posterity.  |  Some  serious  Thoughts  |  on 
the  I  Foundation,  Rise  and  Growth  |  of  the  Settlements  |  in  |  New- 
England  ;  I  With  a  view  to  the.  Edification  of  the  Present,  |  and  the 
Instruction  and  Admonition  of  Future  |  Generations.  |  A  Discourse  | 
Delivered  at  Dedham,  on  the  Day  of  |  Publick  Thanksgiving,  Nov. 
23.  1738.  I  Upon  the  Conclusion  of  the  first  Century,  |  since  a  Church 
of  Christ  was  gathered  in  |  that  Place.  [Psa.  Ixxviii.  1-8.]  (1) 
Boston.  .  .  S.  Kneeland  and  T.  Green,  1738.  8°,  pp.  (4)  ii.  51.  —  An. 
H.     P.     (2)  Boston :   .  .  Thomas  Fleet,  Jun.,  1796.     8°  pp.  (4)  ii.  51. 

—  An.     Ath.     H. .  L.      M.     (3)    Reprinted   in    "Dedham  Pulpit," 
pp.  245  fp. 

89.  —  1740,  Dec.  3. — Joseph  Sewall,  Boston,  Mass.  Nineveh's 
Repentance  and  Deliverance.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  Preach'd  before  |  His 
Excellency  |  the  |  Governour,  |  the  Honourable  |  Council  |  and  |  Rep- 
resentatives I  of  the  Province  of  the  |  Massachusetts-Bay  in  New- 
England,  I  on  a  Day  of  Fasting  and  Prayer  |  in  the  Council  Chamber, 
Dec.  3.  1740.      [Jonah  iii.  10.]     Boston,  N.  E. :  .   .J.  Draper  .  .  . 


630         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

for   D.   Henchman,  1740.     8°,  pp.  (4)  33.  — An.     Ath.     C.     H.     M. 
P.    Y. 

90.  — 1740-41,  Feb.  26.  —  Peter  Clark,  Salem,  Mass.  The  Captain 
of  the  Lord's  Host  appearing  |  with  his  Sword  drawn.  |  Two  |  Ser- 
mons I  Preaeh'd  at  Salem- Village  |  on  the  |  General  Fast,  |  Appointed 
on  the  Occasion  of  the  |  War,  February  26.  1740,  1.  |  From  Joshua  v. 
13,14.  Boston:  ....  S.  Kneeland  and  T.  Green,  1741.  8°,  pp.  (4)  55. 
—  An.     Ath.     H.     M.     P. 

91. —  1740-41,  Feb.  26.  — Phillips  Payson,  Walpole,  Mass.  A 
professing  People  directed  and  excited  to  |  prepare  to  meet  God,  in 
the  Way  of  |  his  Judgments.  |  In  |  Two  Sermons  |  Preached  Feb.  26. 
1740, 1.  I  upon  ]  a  public  Fast,  |  Occasion'd  by  the  present  War  with  | 
Spain,  and  other  Judgments.  [Amos  iv.  12.]  Boston :  .  .  S.  Knee- 
land  &  T.  Green,  .  .  .  1741.  sm.  8°,  pp.  (4)  ii.  49.— An.  H 
M.     P. 

92.  — 1741,  Apr.  23. —  Nathan   Bucknam,  Med  way,    Mass.     The 
just  Expectations  of  God,  from  a  People,  |  when  his  Judgments  are 
upon  them  for  their  Sins.  |  Shewn,  in  |  Two  Sermons,  |  on  Deut.  xiii. 
11  I  Preaeh'd  atMedway,  |  on  a  Day  of  publick  Fasting  and  Prayer,  | 
April  23.   1741.     Boston:  .  .  T.    Fleet,  .  .  .  1741.      12°,  pp.  78.— 

C.  L. 

93. —  1741,  Aug.  4. — Solomon  Williams,  Lebanon,  Conn.  The 
Power  and  Efficacy  of  the  Prayers  of  |  the  People  of  God,  when 
rightly  offered  to  |  him ;  and  the  Obligation  and  Encouragement  | 
thence  arising  to  be  much  in  Prayer.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  Preaeh'd  at 
Mansfield,  Aug.  4.  1741.  |  At  a  Time  set  apart  for  Prayer  for  the 
Revival  |  of  Religion  ;  and  on  the  Behalf  of  Mrs.  |  Eunice,  the 
Daughter  of  the  Reverend  |  Mr.  John  Williams,  (formerly  Pastor  | 
of  Deerfield)  who  was  then  on  a  Visit  there,  |  from  Canada ;  where 
she  has  been  in  a  long  |  Captivity.  [Isa.  xlv.  11.]  Boston:  .  .  S. 
Kneeland  and  T.  Green,  .  .  .  1742.     12%  pp.  (2)  28.—  An.     Ath. 

94.  — 1741-2,  Feb.  26.  — Joseph  Sewall,  Boston,  Mass.  God's 
People  must  Enquire  of  Him  to  |  bestow  the  Blessings  promised  in 
his  I  Word.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  Preaeh'd  February  26.  1741-2.  On  a  Day 
of  Prayer  |  observed  by  the  South  Church  and  Congregation  in  | 
Boston,  to  seek  of  God  the  more  |  Plentiful  Effusion  |  of  |  His  Holy 
Spirit  I  upon  them  and  His  People.     [Ezek.  xxxvi.  37.]     Boston:  .  . 

D.  Fowle  for  D.  Henchman,  1742.     8°,  pp.  30.  —  An.     Ath.     M.     P. 

95.  — 1742,  May  13.  —  Charles  Chauncy,  Boston,  Mass.  The  out- 
pouring of  the  Holy  Ghost.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  Preaeh'd  in  Boston,  May 
13.  1742.  I  On  a  day  of  prayer  observed  by  the  First  Church  there,  | 
to  ask  of  God  the  effusion  of  his  Spirit.  [Acts.  x.  45.]  Boston  :  .  . 
T.  Fleet  for  D.  Henchman  and  S.  Eliot,  1742.  8°,  pp.  46.— An. 
Ath.     Ct.     M. 

96.-1744,  Sept.  14.  — J.   Evans,  [Charleston,  S.   C]     National 


BIBLIOGRAPHY,  631 

Ingratitude    lamented :  |  Being  |  the     Substance  |  of     a  |  Sermon  | 
preached  at  the  Old  Meeting-House  |  in  Charles-Town  in  South-Car- 
olina, I  September  14th,  1744.  |  A  Day  of  Publick  Fast.     [Isa.  i.  3.] 
Charleston:  .  .  Peter  Timothy,  .  .  .  1745.      4°,  pp.  31.  — Ath.     H. 

97.  —  1744-5,  Feb.  28.  —  Samuel  Checkley,  Boston,  Mass.  Prayer 
a  Duty  when  God's  people  go  forth  |  to  War.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  Preach'd 
Feb.  28.  1744-5.  |  Being  a  Day  of  publick  |  Fasting  and  Prayer  |  to 
ask  in  particular,  |  that  it  would  please  God  to  succeed  the  |  Expedi- 
tion formed  against  his  Majesty's  |  Enemies,  &c.  [1  Kings  viii.  44, 
45.]     Boston:  .  .  B.  Green  and  Comp.,  1745.     12°,  pp.  24.  — Ct. 

98.  —  1745,  July  18.  —  Charles  Chauncy,  Boston,  Mass.  Marvel- 
lous Things  done  by  the  right  Hand  and  holy  Arm  |  of  God  in  getting 
him  the  Victory.  |  A  !  Sermon  |  Preached  the  18th  of  July,  1740.  | 
Being  a  Day  set  apart  for  |  Solemn  Thanksgiving  to  almighty  God,  | 
for  the  Reduction  of  Cape  Breton.  .  .  .  [Psa.  xcviii.  1.]  (1)  Boston : 
.  .  .  .  T.  Fleet,  .  .  .  1745.  8°,  pp.  23.  — An.  Ath.  M.  P.  (2) 
London,  Reprinted,  .  .  .  1745.     8°,  pp.  21. 

99.  —  1745,  July  18.  —  Thomas  Prentice,  Charlestown,  Mass. 
When  the  People,  and  the  Rulers  among  them,  willingly  |  offer  them- 
selves to  a  Military  Exposition  against  their  |  unrighteous  Enemies, 
and  are  successful  therein,  the  |  Lord  is  to  be  praised,  and  they  to  be 
loved  and  |  honoured  therefor.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  Preached  at  Charles- 
town,  I  on  I  A  General  Thanksgiving,  |  July  18,  1745.  |  for  the  |  Re- 
duction of  Cape-Breton,  |  by  an  Army  of  New-England  Volunteers,  | 
Under  the  Command  of  the  Honourable  |  William  Pepperell,  Esq  ;  | 
Lieutenant-General  and  Commander  in  Chief.  |  With  the  Assistance 
of  a  British  Squadron,  |  commanded  |  by  Peter  Warren,  Esq;  .  .  . 
[Judg.  v.  1,2,9.]  Boston:  ....  Rogers  and  Fowle,  .  .  .  1745.  8°, 
pp.  31).  — An.    Ath.     C.     Ct.     M. 

100.  —  1745,  July  18.  —  Thomas  Prince,  Boston,  Mass.  Extraor- 
dinary Events  the  Doings  of  God,  and  |  marvellous  in  pious  Eyes.  | 
Illustrated  |  ina  |  Sermon  |  at  the  |  South  Church  in  Boston,  N.  E.  |  on 
the  I  General  Thanksgiving,  |  Thursday  July  18.  1745.  |  Occasion'd  | 
By  taking  the  City  of  Louisburg,  on  the  Isle  of  |  Cape-Breton,  by 
New-England  Soldiers,  assisted  |  by  a  British  squadron.  [Psa.  cxviii. 
23.]  (1)  Boston:  Printed  for  D.  Henchman,  .  .  .  1745.  8°,  pp.  35. 
—  An.  Ath.  H.  M.  Y.  (2)  Boston,  Printed :  London,  Reprinted, 
and  sold  by  J.  Lewis,  .  .  .  1746.  8°,  pp.  32.  —  H.  (3)  Same.  (4) 
Same.  (5)  Same. — Ath.  H.  L.  (6)  Same.  —  M.  (7)  Edinburgh  : 
.  .  R.  Fleming  and  Company,  1746.  8°,  pp.  (2)  38.  (8)  Eos- 
ton  :  Printed  for  D.  Henchman,  .  .  .  1747.  8°,  pp.  35.  —  Ath.  Ct. 
M.    U. 

101.  —  1745,  July  25.  — Jared  Eliot,  [Killingworth]  Clinton,  Conn- 
God's  Marvellous  Kindness,  |  Illustrated  in  a  |  Sermon  |  Preach'd  at 
the  South  Society  in  Killingworth,  |  on  the  General  Thanksgiving  in 


532        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

the  Colony  !  of  Connecticut,  July  25,  1745.  |  Occasion' d  |  By  taking 
the  City  of  Louisbourg  on  the  Isle  |  of  Cape-Breton,  by  New-England 
Soldiers,  |  assisted  by  a  British  Squadron,  June  17,  1745.  [Psa.  xxxi. 
21.]    New  London:  .  .  .  .  T.  Green,  1745.    16°,  pp.  (4)  26.  — Ct.    M. 

102.  — 1746,  Aug.  14.  —  Thomas  Prince,  Boston,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon I  Delivered  |  At  the  South  Church  in  Boston,  N.  E.  |  August  14. 
1746.  I  Being  the  Day  of  |  General  Thanksgiving  |  for  |  The  great 
Deliverance  of  the  British  Nations  |  by  |  The  glorious  and  happy 
Victory  |  near  |  Culloden.  |  Obtained  by  His  Royal  Highness  |  Prince 
William  Duke  of  Cumberland  |  April  16.  last.  |  Wherein  |  The 
Greatness  of  the  Publick  Danger  and  Deliverance  is  in  |  Part  set 
forth,  to  excite  their  most  grateful  Praises  to  the  |  God  of  their  Sal- 
vation. [Ezra  ix.  13,  14.]  (1)  Boston:  Printed  for  D.  Henchman, 
.  .  .  1746.  8°,  pp.  38  (1).  —  An.  Ath.  C.  Ct.  L.  P.  U.  Y. 
(2)  Boston,  Printed :  London,  Reprinted  and  sold  by  John  Lewis, 
.  .  .  1747.     8°,  pp.  39. —  L.     [Some  slight  alterations  in  the  title.] 

103.  —  1746,  Nov.  27.  —  Thomas  Prince,  Boston,  Mass.  The  Sal- 
vations of  God  in  1746.  |  In  Part  set  forth  in  a  |  Sermon  |  at  the 
South  Church  in  Boston,  |  Nov.  27.  1746.  |  Being  the  Day  of  the  | 
Anniversary  Thanksgiving  |  in .  the  Province  of  the  |  Massachusetts 
Bay  in  |  N.  E.  Wherein  |  the  most  remarkable  Salvations  of  the  Year 
past,  both  in  |  Europe  and  North  America,  as  far  as  they  are  come  to 
our  I  Knowledge,  are  briefly  considered.  [Ex.  xiv.  13.]  (1)  Boston  : 
Printed  for  D.  Henchman,  .  .  .  1746.  8°,  pp.  35.— An.  Ath.  Ct. 
H.  L.  M.  P.  U.  Y.  (2)  Boston,  Printed :  London,  Reprinted, 
and  sold  by  T.  Longman  and  T.  Shewell,  .  .  .  1747.  8°,  pp.  36.  —  H. 
L.  (3)  Extract  on  the  "  Destruction  of  the  French  Fleet  etc."  re- 
printed to  encourage  the  People  of  God  under  the  Execution  of  the 
Boston  Port  Bill.  Boston  :  Reprinted  and  sold  by  John  Kneeland, 
1774.  8°,  pp.  15.  (4)  Same.  Watertown :  Reprinted  and  sold  by  B. 
Edes,  1776.    8°,  pp.  15.  —  H.    M. 

104.  —  [1746.]  —  Thomas  Cradock  [St.  Thomas],  Baltimore,  Md. 
"  During  this  year,  1747,  Mr.  Cradock  published  two  Sermons ;  one  of 
which  was  preached  in  St.  Thomas'  Church,  from  Psalm  cxxii.  6,  7, 
on  the  day  of  the  Governor's  Thanksgiving,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
Suppression  of  the  Scotch  Rebellion ;  and  the  other,  on  the  same 
occasion,  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  Baltimore  town,  from  Proverbs  xvii. 
22."     Sprague's  Annals,  v.  113. 

105.— 1747-8,  Jan.  7.  — William  Currie,  Radnor,  Pa.  A  |  Ser- 
mon I  Preached  in  |  Radnor  Church,  |  on  |  Thursday,  the  7th  of  Jan- 
uary, 1747.  I  Being  the  Day  appointed  by  the  |  President  and  Council 
of  the  I  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  |  to  be  observed  as  a  |  General 
Fast.  [Jer.  v.  29.]  Philadelphia:  ....  Benjamin  Franklin  and 
David  Hall,  1743.     8°,  pp.  23.  —  Hist.  Soe.  of  Penn. 

106.  —  1747-8,  Jan.  7.  —  Gilbert  Tennent,  PhUadelphia,  Pa.    A  | 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  533 

Sermon  |  Preach'd  |  at  Philadelphia,  January  7.  1747-8.  |  Being-  the 
Day  appointed  by  the  |  Honourable  |  the  |  President  and  Council,  | 
to  be  observed  throughout  this  Province,  |  as  a  Day  of  |  Fasting  and 
Prayer.  |  With  some  enlargement.     Philadelphia:   .  7  W.   Bradford, 
.  .  .  1748.     8°,  pp.  34.  —  Princeton  Coll. 

107.  — 1747-8,  Jan.  28.  —  Nathaniel  Appleton,  Cambridge,  Mass. 
The  Cry  of  Oppression  where  Judgment  is  looked  for,  |  and  the  sore 
Calamities  such  a  People  may  expect  from  a  |  righteous  God :  |  Illus- 
trated in  I  Two  Discourses  |  from  Isaiah  v.  vii.  |  on  January  28th 
1747,  8.  which  was  set  apart  by  the  Government  |  for  Fasting  and 
Prayer,  in  Consideration  |  of  the  remarkable  Judgments  of  God  | 
upon  the  Land ;  and  more  especially  the  |  Destruction  of  the  Court- 
House  by  |  fire  on  the  9th  of  December  last.  Boston,  N.  E. :  ....  J. 
Draper,  1748.     8°,  pp.  51.  — An.     Ath.     C     H.     M.     P.     Y. 

108.  — 1747-8,  Jan.   28.  —  Thomas   Prentice,   Charlestown,  Mass. 
*The  Vanity  of  Zeal  for  Fasts,  without  |  true  Judgment,  Mercy,  and 

Compassions.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  Preach'd  at  Charlestown,  January  28. 
1747,  8.  On  a  I  PublickFast,  |  After  the  Destruction  of  the  |  Prov- 
ince Court-House  |  by  Fire.  [Zech.  vii.  8-12.]  Boston :  .  .  .  .  Rogers 
andFowle,  .  .  .  1748.    8°,  pp.  27.  —  An.    Ath.    M. 

109.  —  1747-8,  Jan.  28.  —  Ebenezer  Turell,  Medford,  Mass.  Mr. 
Turell's  |  Brief  and  Plain  |  Exhortation  to  his  People  |  on  the  late 
Fast,  I  January  28.  1747,  8.  [Isa.  i.  10-17.]  Boston :  .  .  .  .  Rogers 
&  Fowle,  1748.     8°,  pp.  11.  — An.     Ath.     C.     U. 

110.  — 1749,  Apr.  27.  —Gilbert  Tennent,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  Two  | 
Sermons  |  Preach'd  at  Burlington,  |  in  New-Jersey,  April  27th,  1749.  | 
The  Day  appointed  by  His  Excellency  the  Governor,  |  and  the  Hon- 
orable the  Council,  |  for  a  |  Provincial  Fast,  |  Before  the  Governor 
and  others,  upon  Texts  |  Chosen  by  His  Excellency.  [Matt.  vi.  16-18. 
Jonah  iii.  8.]  Philadelphia :  .  .  .  .  W.  Bradford,  .  .  .  n.  d.  8°,  pp. 
40.  —  Library  of  Congress. 

111.  —  1749,  June  15.  —  Aaron  Smith,  Marlborough,  Mass.  Some  | 
Temporal  Advantages  |  in  |  Keeping  Covenant  with  God,  |  considered 
and  applied  |  in  |  Two  Discourses  |  from  Lev.  26.  3,  4.  |  Delivered 
June  15th  1749.  |  Being  a  Day  of  publick  Fasting,  on  Occa-  |  sion  of 
the  Extream  Drought.  Boston :  .  .  .  .  S.  Kneeland,  1749.  8°,  pp.  (4) 
31  (1).  — Ath. 

112.  —  1749,  Aug.  24.  —  Thomas  Prince,  Boston,  Mass.  The  natu- 
ral and  moral  Government  and  Agency  of  |  God,  in  causing  Droughts 
and  Rains.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  at  the  |  South  Church  in  Boston,  |  Thurs- 
day, Aug.  24.  1749.  I  Being  the  Day  of  the  |  General  Thanksgiving  | 
in  the  |  Province  of  the  Massachusetts,  |  for  the  extraordinary  reviv- 
ing Rains,  after  the  most  |  distressing  Drought  which  have  been 
known  among  |  us  in  the  Memory  of  any  Living.  [Psa.  cvii.  33-35.] 
(1)  Boston :  Printed  and  sold  at  Kneeland  and  Green's,  .  .  .  1749. 


534        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

8°,  pp.  (6)40.— An.  Ath.  Ct.  H.  M.  U.  Y.  (2)  Same,  1750. 
8°,  pp.  (6)  40.  (3)  Boston,  Printed :  London,  Reprinted,  .  .  .  1750. 
8°,  pp.  (6)  34.  — C.    H.    L.     (4)  Same,  1750.    8°,  pp.  (6)  34. 

113.  —  1749,  Nov.  23.  —  Gilbert  Tennent,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  A  | 
Sermon  |  Preaeh'd    at   Burlington   in   New-Jersey,   November  23.  | 

1749.  Being  the  Day  appointed  by  his  Excellency  |  the  Governor, 
with  the  advice  of  His  |  Majesty's  Council,  |  for  a  |  Provincial 
Thanksgiving.  |  Before  the  Governor  and  others,  upon  Texts  |  chosen 
by  his  Excellency.  |  With  a  Prefatory  Address  .  .  .  [Psa.  Ixv.  1. 
Phil.  i.  27.]  PhUadelphia:  .  .  William  Bradford,  .  .  .  1749.  4°, 
pp.  28.  —  C.     P. 

114.  — 1750,  Feb.  28.  —  Solomon  Williams,  Lebanon,  Conn.  The 
Sad  Tendency  of  Divisions  and  Contentions  in  Churches,  a  [Fast 
Day]    Sermon,   at  the   West-Farms,  in   Norwich    [Conn.],  Feb.   28, 

1750.  Newport :  James  Franklin,  n.  d.  16°,  pp.  29.  —  Brinley  Cat. 
No.  2422. 

115.  — 1753,  April  19.  —  Andrew  Eliot,  Boston,  Mass.      An  evil 
and    adulterous    Generation.    |  A  |  Sermon   |   Preached    on    the   | 
Publick   Fast,  I  April   19,  1753.      [Matt.   xii.   39.]      Boston:   .  .  S. 
Kneeland,  for  J.  Winter,  .  .  .  1753.    8^  pp.  (2)  26.  — An.    Ath.     C. 
L.    M.    Y. 

116.-1753,  Dec.  13.— Samuel  Dunbar,  Stoughton,  Mass.  The 
Duty  of  Ministers,  to  testify  the  Gospel  |  of  the  Grace  of  God.  | 
A  I  Sermon  |  Preached  to  the  First  Parish  in  |  Braintree,  |  Decem- 
ber 13.  1753.  I  Being  |  a  Day  set  a-part  by  them  for  solemn 
Humiliation  and  Prayer  for  Divine  |  Direction  in  their  Choice  of  a 
Minister.  [Acts  xx.  24.]  Boston :  .  .  .  .  S.  Kneeland,  1754.  8°,  pp. 
(4)23.  — Ath.    M. 

117.  — 1755,  Jan.  1.  — Aaron  Burr,  Newark,  N.  J.  A  |  Discourse  | 
delivered  |  at  New-ark,  |  in  |  New-Jersey.  |  January  1,  1755.  |  Be- 
ing a  Day  set  apart  for  solemn  Fasting  and  Prayer,  on  |  Account 
of  the  late  Encroachments  of  the  French,  and  |  their  Designs  against 
the  British  Colonies  in  America.  [Hosea  ix.  12.]  (1)  Philadel- 
phia. [Haven's  List,  but  probably  an  error.]  (2)  New  York :  .  . 
HughGaine,  .  .  .  1755.    4°,  pp.  41.  — Bo.     Ct.    M.    U. 

118.  — 1755,  Mar.  20. — Samuel  Wigglesworth,  Ipswich,  Mass. 
The  Blessedness  of  such  as  trust  in  Christ,  |  the  King  whom  God 
hath  exalted.  |  A  |  Discourse  |  Delivered  |  to  the  Congregation  of 
the  Southern  [  Parish  in  Ipswich,  March  20th  1755.  |  Being  a  Day 

of  publick  Fasting  and  |  Prayer.     [Psa.  ii.  12.]     Boston  :  N.  E 

S.  Kneeland,  ...  1755.     8°,  pp.  (4)  28.  —  Ath.    M.    P.    Y. 

119.  —  1755,  Aug.  27.  —  Joseph  Fish,  No.  Stonington,  Conn. 
Angels  ministring  to  the  People  of  God,  for  their  |  Safety  and 
Comfort  in  Times  of  Danger  and  Distress.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  Preached 
at  I  Westerly,  in  the   Colony   of   Rhode-Island,  |  Aug.    27.  1755.  | 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  535 

In  I  the  South  Meeting  House,  j  to  a  |  number  of  religious  People,  on 
a  Day  of  Fasting  and  |  Prayer  (observed  by  them)  for  Success  to  our 
Armies.  |  With  a  |  more  particular  Reference  to  the  Expedition 
against  Crown-Point ;  |  in  which  some  of  them  had  near  Relations. 
[Heb.  i.  14.]     Newport  :   .  .  J.  Franklin,  n.  d.     4°,  pp.  28.— An. 

120.  — 1755.  —  Joseph  Bean,  Wrentham,  Mass.     The  Importance 
of  Spiritual  Blessings.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  preached  before  |  the  Congrega- 
tion of  the  First  Church  and  Parish  |  of  Wrentham,  |  on  a  day  of  | 
Public  Humiliation,  Fasting  and  Prayer,  |  A.  D.  1755.     [Gen.  xxxii. 
26.]     Providence:  H.  H.  Brown,  1837.     8°,  pp.  23.  — C. 

121. — 1756,  Jan.  8.  —  Thomas  Foxcroft,  Boston,  Mass.  The 
Earthquake,  a  Divine  Visitation.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  Preached  to  the 
Old  Church  in  Boston,  |  January  8,  1756.  |  Being  |  A  Day  of  Pub- 
lick  Humiliation  and  Prayer,  |  throughout  the  Province  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts- I  Bay  in  New-England :  |  Upon  Occasion  |  of  the  repeated 
Shock  of  an  Earthquake  on  this  Continent,  and  the  very  destructive 
earthquakes  |  and  Inundations  in  divers  Parts  of  Europe,  all  in  |  the 
Month  of  November  last.  [Isa.  xxix.  6.]  Boston :  .  .  .  .  S.  Kneeland, 
...1756.    8°,  pp.  51.  — Ath.    H.    M.    Y. 

122.  —  1756,  Jan.  8.  —  John  Tucker,  Newbury,  Mass.  God's 
special  Care  over  the  Righteous,  |  under  publick  Calamities.  |  A 
Sermon  on  the  Occasion  of  the  late  Earth-  |  quakes.  Deliver' d  on  a 
Day  of  publick  |  Humiliation  therefor,  January  8th  1756.  From 
Ezek.  ix.  4,  5,  6.  [One  of  "Four  Sermons  on  Several  Subjects."] 
Boston:  .  .  .  .  S.  Kneeland,  .  .  .  1756.  8°,  pp.  (2)  vii.  99  [24-46]. 
—  Ct.     M. 

123.  — 1756,  May  21.  —William  Smith,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  Hard- 
ness of  Heart  and  Neglect  of  God's  merciful  Visitations,  the  certain 
Forerunners  of  more  public  Miseries ;  applied  to  the  Colonies,  in  a 
parallel  between  their  state  and  that  of  the  Jews  in  many  remarkable 
Instances,  Preached  on  the  Public  Fast,  appointed  by  the  Govern- 
ment of  Pennsylvania,  May  21,  1756.  [Jer.  viii.  7-11.]  (1)  London, 
"  Discourses  on  Public  Occasions,"  1759.  (2)  London  :  Printed  for 
A.  Millar,  R.  Griffiths  &c.  1762.  8°.  "Discourses  on  Public  Occa- 
sions," pp.  47-74.  (3)  Phila. :  Hugh  MaxweU  and  WiUiam  Fry,  1803. 
8°.     Works,  ii.  pp.  90-111. 

124. — 1756,  Nov.  25.  —  John  Tucker,  Newbury,  Mass.  God's  Good- 
ness, amidst  his  afflictive  Providences,  |  a  just  Ground  of  Thankful- 
ness and  Praise.  |  A  |  Discourse  on  Psalm  cxviii.  18,  19.  |  Deliv- 
ered November  25.  1756.  |  Being  a  Day  appointed  by  Authority, 
for  a  publick  |  Thanksgiving  thro'  this  Province.  Boston :  .  .  .  .  S. 
Kneeland,  .  .  .  1757.     8°,  pp.  (2)23.— An.     Ath.     C.     H.     M.     P. 

125.  — 1757,  May  6.  —  Arthur  Browne,  Portsmouth,  N.  H.     The  | 
Necessity  of  Reformation,  |  in    Order   to   avert   |   Impending  Judg- 
ments. I  A  I  Sermon  |  Preached  at  Portsmouth,  in  New-  |  Hampshire, 


536         FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING   DAYS. 

May  6,  1757.  |  Being  the  |  Annual   Fast.     [Isa.  i.  20.]     Portsmouth: 
....  Daniel  Fowle,  .  .  .  1757.     8°,  pp.  21.  — An.     Ath.    M. 

126.  —  1757,  June  30.  —  John  Cotton,  Halifax  and  Plymouth,  Mass. 
God's  Call  to  His  People  ;  —  shewing  their  Duty.  |  Two  |  Sermons  | 
Preached  at  Plymouth,    |  June  30.  1757.  |  Being  a  Day  of  General 
Humiliation,  |  Occasioned  |  by  the  Drought  and  War.     [Zeph.  ii.  3.] 
Boston:   .  .  Benjamin  Meeom,  .  .    .  1757.     8°,  pp.  43.  —  Ath. 

127.  — 1757,  July  8.  —  Matthias  Harris,  Lewes,  Del.  A  |  Sermon  | 
Preached  in  the  Church  of  St.  Peters  in  Lewis,  |  in  Sussex  County 
on  Delaware,  on  July  8,  1757.  |  Being  |  The  Day  appointed  by  the 
Honourable  Wil-  |  liam  Denny,  Esq ;  to  be  observed  as  a  |  Day  of 
Fasting  and  Humiliation,  to  implore  |  the  Blessing  of  God  on  his 
Majestys  Arms,  |  especially  on  the  Expedition  now  carrying  |  on 
under  his  Excellency  John  Earl  |  of  Loudon.  Philadelphia :  .  .  .  . 
James  Chattin,  1757.     8°,  pp.  54  (1).  —  Am.  Phil.  Soc,  Phila. 

128.  — 1758,  Nov.  23.  — Jason  Haven,  Dedham,  Mass.  The 
Duty  of  Thanksgiving  to  God  for  |  Favours  received,  explained 
and  urged.  |  A  |  Discourse  |  Delivered  November  23d.  1758.  |  It  be- 
ing I  the  Day  appointed  by  Authority  |  to  be  obsei-ved  |  as  a  Day  of 
publick  I  Thanksgiving,  |  for  the  Smiles  of  Providence  in  the  Year 
past.  [Psa.  ciii.  2.]  (1)  Boston :  .  .  S.  Kneeland,  .  .  .  1759.  8°,  pp. 
(4)  23.  —  C.     H.    Y.     (2)  Reprinted  in  "  Dedham  Pulpit,"  pp.  281  ff. 

129.  — 1758,  Nov.  23.  —  Jonathan  Mayhew,  Boston,  Mass.     Two  | 
Discourses  |  Delivered    November  23d.  1758.  |  Being    the  |  Day  ap- 
pointed by  Authority  |  to  be  |  Observed  as  a  Day  of  public  |  Thanks- 
giving :    I  Relating,    more  Especially,  |  to   the  |  Success  of   His   Ma- 
jesty's Arms,  I  And   those  of  the  |  King  of  Prussia,  the  last  Year. 

[Psa.  c.  4.]     Boston :  N.  E R.  Draper,  .  .  .  n.  d.    8°,  pp.  29, 

57.  — An.    Ath.    Bo.     C.     Ct.    H.    L.    M.    Y. 

130.  — 1759,  Apr.  5.  —  Thaddeus  Maccarty,  Worcester,  Mass. 
The  Advice  of  Joab  to  the  Host  of  Israel,  goilig  |  forth  to  War,  con- 
sidered and  urged,  !  in  two  |  Discourses  |  delivered  at  Worcester, 
April  5th,  1759.  |  Being  the  |  Day  of  the  publick  annual  Fast,  | 
Appointed  by  Authority,  |  and  the  |  Day  preceeding  the  General 
Muster  |  of  the  |  Militia  throughout  the  Province,  |  for  the  |  Inlist- 
ing  Soldiers  |  for  the  |  Intended  Expedition  against  Canada.  [2 
Sam.  x.  12.]  Boston  :  .  .  Thomas  and  John  Fleet,  1759.  8°,  pp.  39. 
—  An.    Ath.     Ct.    M. 

131.  — 1759,  Oct.  16.  — Samuel  Cooper,  Boston,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon I  preached  before  His  Excellency  |  Thomas  Pownall,  Esq  ;  | 
Captain-General  and  Governor  in  Chief,  |  the  Honourable  His  Ma- 
jesty's Council  I  and  House  of  Representatives,  |  of  the  Province  of 
the  I  Massachusetts-Bay  in  New-England,  |  October  IG**"  1759.  | 
Upon  Occasion  of  the  Success  of  His  |  Majesty's  Arms  in  the 
Reduction  of  |  Quebec.  [Psa.  cxl.  10-12.]  Boston :  .  .  Green  & 
Russell,  and  Edes  &  Gill,  .  .  .  n.  d.     8°,  pp.  xi.  53.  —  An.    Ath.    Y. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  537 

132. —  1759,  Oct.  25.  —  Amos  Adams,  Roxbury,  Mass.  Songs  of 
Victory  directed  by  human  Com-  |  passion,  and  qualified  with  Chris- 
tian I  Benevolence ;  in  |  A  |  Sermon  |  delivered  at  Roxbury,  October 
25,  1759.  I  On  the  general  |  Thanksgiving,  |  for  the  Success  of  His 
Majesty's  Arms,  |  "  more  particularly,  in  the  Reduction  |  of  Quebec, 
the  Capital  of  Canada."  [Prov.  xxiv.  17,  18.]  Boston:  ....  Edes 
and  am,  ...  1759.    8°,  pp.  29.  —  An.    Ath.     Bo.    C.    M. 

133.  —  1759,  Oct.  25.  —  John  Burt  [Bristol,  R.  I.].  Sermon 
preached  at  Bristol,  R.  I.,  Oct.  25,  1759,  upon  a  Thanksgiving  for  the 
Reduction  of  Quebec.  Newport :  J.  Franklin  [1759].  8°.  —  BrinTey 
Cat.  No.  2430. 

134.  — 1759,  Oct.  25.  —  Andrew  Eliot,  Boston,  Mass.  A  |  Sermon  | 
preached  October  25th,  1759.  |  Being  a  Day  of  |  Public  Thanks- 
giving I  Appointed  by  Authority,  |  for  the  Success  |  of  the  British 
Arms  this  Year;  |  Especially  |  in  the  Reduction  of  |  Quebec,  |  the 
Capital  of  Canada.  [Psa.  exxvi.  3.]  Boston:  .  .  Daniel  and  John 
Kneeland,  for  J.  Winter,  .  .  .  1759.  8°,  pp.  43.— An.  Ath.  Ct. 
M.    P.    Y. 

135.  — 1759,  Oct.  25.  —  Jonathan  Mayhew,  Boston,  Mass.  Two 
Discourses  |  delivered  |  October  the  25th,  1759.  |  Being  the  Day 
appointed  by  Authority  to  be  observed  |  as  |  a  Day  of  public  Thanks- 
giving, I  for  the  I  Success  of  His  Majesty's  Arms,  |  more  particularly 
in  the  |  Reduction  of  Quebec,  |  the  Capital  of  Canada,  |  with  an  | 
Appendix,  |  containing  a  brief  Account  of  two  former  Expeditions 
against  |  that  City  and  County,  which  proved  unsuccessful.  [Psa. 
exxvi.  3.]  (1)  Boston  :  .  .  Edes  &  Gill,  1759.  8^  pp.  67.  —  An. 
Ath.  C.  Ct.  H.  M.  Y.  (2)  London:  Printed  for  A.  Millar  in 
the  Strand,  1760.     8°,  pp.  (4)  28,  63  (17).  —  Ct. 

136.  — 1759,  Oct.  25. — Jonathan  Townsend,  Medfield,  Mass. 
Sorrow  turned  into  Joy.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  Deliver'd  at  Medfield,  |  Octo- 
ber 25.  1759.  I  Being  a  Day  of  public  Acknowledgement  |  of  the 
smiles  of  Heaven  upon  the  British  Arms  |  in  America :  |  more  espe- 
cially in  the  Reduction  of  |  Quebec.  [Esther  ix.  20-22.]  Boston: 
.  .  S.  Kneeland,  .  .  .  1760.     8°,  pp.  (2)  28.— An.     M. 

137.  — 1759,  Nov.  10.  —Samuel  Langdon,  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  Joy 
.and  Gratitude  to  God  |  for  the  |  Long  Life  of  a  Good  King,  |  and  the  | 

Conquest  of  Quebec.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  Preached  in  the  First  Parish  of 
Portsmouth,  in  |  New-Hampshire,  Saturday,  November  10th  1759.  | 
Being  the  Anniversary  Birth  Day  of  |  His  present  Majesty  King 
George  II.  |  And  apx>ointed  by  His  Excellency  |  Benning  Went- 
worth,  Esq.  |  Governor  of  said  Province,  |  a  Day  of  general 
Thanksgiving  and  public  |  Rejoicing  for  the  Success  of  His  Majesty's  | 
Arms,  especially  against  |  Canada.  [Psa.  xxi.  1-13.]  Portsmouth : 
....  Daniel  Fowle,  1760.     8°,  pp.  47.  —  An.     M. 

138.  —  1759,  Nov.  15.  —  Solomon  Williams,  Lebanon,  Conn.     The 


538         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

Relations  of  God's  People  to  him,  and  the  Enga-  |  gements  and  Obli- 
gations they  are  under  to  praise  him,  |  and  prepare  him  an  Habita- 
tion. With  a  special  View  |  to  New-England,  and  the  rest  of  the 
British  Subjects  |  in  America.  |  A  |  Thanksgiving  |  Sermon,  |  on 
Occasion  of  the  Smiles  of  Heaven  on  |  the  British  Arms  in  America, 
particularly  |  in  the  Reduction  of  Quebec.  |  Preached  at  Lebanon, 
November  15,  1759.  [Ex.  xv.  2.]  New-London :  .  .  .  .  Timothy 
Green,  1760.     16°,  pp.  28. -- An.     Ct.     H.     L.     M. 

139.  — 1759,  Nov.  29.  —  Samuel  Chandler,  Gloucester,  Mass.     A  | 
Sermon  |  preached  at  Gloucester,  |  Thursday,  |  November  29, 1759.  | 
Being  the  Day  of  the  Provincial  Anniversary  |  Thanksgiving.     [Isa. 
ix.  6.]    Boston,  N.  E. :  .  .  Green  &  Russell,  .  .  .  n.  d.    8°,  pp.  30.— 
An.    M.    Y, 

140.  — 1760,  Jan.  3.  —  Joseph  Emerson,  Pepperell,  Mass.  A  | 
Thanksgiving  |  Sermon,  |  preached  at  Pepperrell,  |  January  3d.  1760.  | 
A  Day  set  apart  by  the  Church  and  |  Congregation  there:  |  to 
commemorate  the  Goodness  of  God  to  |  them  the  Year  past :  |  Es- 
pecially I  in  the  Removal  of  Sickness,  and  tbe  Return  of  so  |  many 
Soldiers  from  the  Army.  [Psa.  Ixxii.  18.]  (1)  Boston:  .  .  .  .  S. 
Kneeland,  .  .  .  1760.  16°,  pp.  (4)  25.  — C.  Ct.  P.  (2)  Reprinted 
in  "The  Pepperell  Advertiser,"  Jan.  2,  1892. 

141.  — 1760,  Mar.  6.  —  Mather  Byles,  2d.,  New  London,  Conn.  A  | 
Sermon,  |  delivered  March  6th  1760.  |  Being  a  Day  appointed,  |  by 
Order  of  his  Majesty,  |  as  a  Public  Thanksgiving,  |  for  the  late  Sig- 
nal Successes,  |  granted  to  the  British  Arms.  .  .  .  [Psa.  xcvi.  7, 
8.]  (1)  New-London  :  .  .  Timothy  Green,  1760.  16°,  pp.  22.  — An. 
Ct.  H.  M.  (2)  Boston.  12°,  1760.  [Haven's  List  of  Ante-Revolu- 
tionary Publications.] 

142.— 1760,  Mar.  6.  — Eliphalet  Williams,  East  Hartford,  Conn. 
God's  wonderful  Goodness,  in  succeeding  the  Arms  |  of  his  People,  to 
be  acknowledged  and  celebrated  with  |  Rejoicing  and  Praise.  |  A  | 
Sermon,  |  Preached  at  East-Hartford,  |  March  6.  1760.  |  Being  the 
Day  of  I  Public  Thanksgiving,  |  For  the  signally  favourable  Appear- 
ances of  I  Almighty  God,  in  prospering  his  Majes-  |  ty's  Arms :  Par- 
ticularly by  the   Defeat  of  |  the  French  Army  in    Canada,  and  the 

Tak-  I  ing  Quebec,  &c.     [2  Chron.  xx.  27,  28.]     New-London : 

Timothy  Green,  1760.     16°,  pp.  31.  —  An.     Ct.     H.     L. 

143.  — 1760,  Oct.  9.  —  Nathaniel  Appleton,  Cambridge,  Mass.  A  | 
Sermon  |  preached  October  9.  |  Being  |  a  Day  of  public  Thanks- 
giving, I  occasioned  by  the  |  Surrender  of  Montreal,  |  and  |  all  Can- 
ada, I  September  8th  1760  |  to  His  Britannic  Majesty.  |  Effected 
by  I  the  British  and  Provincial  Troops  under  |  the  Command  of  Gen- 
eral Amherst.  [Rev.  xv.  3,  4.]  Boston:  New  England,  .  .  John 
Draper,  .  .  .  1760.    8°,  pp.  36.  —  An.    Ath.    H.     M.     Y. 

144.  — 1760,  Oct.    9,  — Eli  Forbes,    Brooktield,  Mass.      God  the 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  639 

Streng"th  and  Salvation  of  his  |  People ;  illustrated  in  |  A  |  Sermon  | 
Preached  October  9,  1760.  |  Being  a  Day  of  Public  Thanksgiving  | 
Appointed  by  Authority  |  For  the  Success  of  the  British  Arms  |  in  | 
North-America,  |  especially  |  In  the  total  Reduction  of  |  Canada  | 
to  the  Crown  of  Great-Britain.  [Ex.  xv.  2.]  Boston :  .  .  .  .  Edes  & 
Gill,  ...  1761.    8°,  pp.  35.— Ath.     H.    L.    M. 

145.  — 1760,  Oct.  9.  —  Thomas  Foxcroft,  Boston,  Mass.  Grateful 
Reflexions  on  the  signal  Appearances  of  Divine  |  Providence  for 
Great  Britain  and  its  Colonies  in  |  America,  which  diffuse  a  general 
Joy.  I  A  I  Sermon  |  preached  in  the  Old  Church  in  Boston,  |  Octo- 
ber 9.  1760.  I  Being  |  the  Thanksgiving-Day  |  on  occasion  of  |  the 
Surrender  of  Montreal,  and  the  complete  |  Conquest  of  Canada,  |  by 
the  Blessing  of  |  Heaven  on  his  Britannic  Majesty's  brave  |  Troops, 
under  the  auspicious  Conduct  of  that  |  truly  gTeat  and  amiable  Com- 
mander, General  |  Amherst.    [Psa.  cxxvi.  3.]     Boston,  N.  E S. 

Kneeland,  .  .  .  1760.     8°,  pp.  36.  —  An.    Ath.    Ct.    H.    M.     P.    Y. 

146.  — 1760,  Oct.  9.  —  David  Hall,  Sutton,  Mass.  Israel's  Tri- 
umph. I  It  concerns  the  People  of  God  to  celebrate  the  Divine  | 
Praises,  according  to  all  his  wonderful  Works.  |  A  |  Sermon  | 
preached  at  Sutton  |  on  a  |  Publick  Thanksgiving,  |  October  9th 
1760.  I  For  the  entire  Reduction  of  Canada.  [Also  at  Hollis,  N.  H., 
Nov.  20,  1760.]  [Ex.  xv.  1.]  Boston :  ....  J.  Draper,  .  .  .  1761. 
12°,  pp.  24.— An. 

147.  — 1760,  Oct.  9.  —  Jonathan  Mayhew,  Boston,  Mass.  Two  | 
Discourses  |  delivered  October  9th  1760.  |  Being  the  Day  ap- 
pointed to  be  observed  |  as  a  Day  of  public  |  Thanksgiving,  |  for  the 
Success  of  His  Majesty's  Arms,  |  More  Especially  |  in  the  intire  Re- 
duction of  I  Canada.  [Psa.  xcviii.  1,  2.]  Boston :  .  .  R.  Draper, 
...1760.    8°,  pp.  34,  69.  — An.    Ath.     Bo.     Ct.     H.    M.    Y. 

148.  — 1760,  Oct.  9.  —John  Mellen,  Sterling, Mass.  A  |  Sermon  | 
preached  at  the  West  Parish  in  Lancaster,  |  October  9.  1760.  |  On  the 
General  Thanksgiving  |  for  |  the  Reduction  of  Montreal  |  and  |  Total 
Conquest  of  Canada.  |  Containing  |  a  brief  Account  of  the  War, 
from  I  the  year  1755 ;  —  and  a  Review  of  the  first  |  Settlement  and 
several  Expeditions  against  (with  |  some  of  the  Reasons  for  holding) 
Canada.  [Psa.  xxi.  12.]  Boston:  .  .  .  .  B.  Mecom,  n.  d.  8°,  pp. 
46(1). —An.    Ath.    M. 

149.-1760,  Oct.  9.  — Nathan  Stone,  Southboro',  Mass.  Two  | 
Discourses  |  delivered  at  Southborough :  |  The  First,  |  on  a  Day  of 
public  Thanksgiving,  |  October  9th  1760.  |  Occasioned  by  the 
entire  |  Reduction  of  Canada.  |  The  Second,  |  A  plain  and  brief 
Discourse  |  to  little  Children.  ...  [1  Sam.  xv.  22.]  Boston :  .  .  .  . 
S.  Kneeland,  .  .  .  1761.     8°,  pp.  (4)  ii.  15.  — H. 

150.  — 1760,  Oct.  9.  — Samuel  Woodward,  Weston,  Mass.    A  | 
Sermon   |   preached    October    9.    1760.    |    Being    a    day  of    Public 


540        FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

Thanksg-iving  |  on    occasion  of  |  the  Reduction  of  Montreal  |  and  | 
the   entire   Conquest   of   Canada,  |  by  the  Troops  of   His   Britannic 
Majesty,  |  under  the  Command  of  General  Amherst.     [Psa.  cxxiv.] 
Boston :    .    .    Benjamin    Mecom,  .  .  .  n.   d.      8°,    pp.     30.  —  Ath. 
M.    Y. 

151.  — 1760,  Oct.  23.  —  William  Adams,  New  London,  Conn.    A  | 
Discourse  |  delivered  at   New-London,  |  October  23d.  A.  D.  1760.  | 
On   the  I  Thanksgiving,  |  (Ordered    by    Authority)  |  for    the    Suc- 
cess of  the  British  Arms,  |  the  reduction  of  Montreal,  and  the  con-  | 
quest  of  all  Canada.   [Psa.  xxi.  11-13.]    New-London:  ....  Timothy 
Green,  1761.     16°,  pp.  25.  —  An.     Ct.     H.     P. 

152.  — 1761,  Feb.  12.— John  Swift,  Acton,  Mass.    A  |  Sermon  | 
delivered  by  the  |  Rev.  Mr.  John  Swift,  |  of  Acton,  |  at  the  East  Pre- 
cinct in  Sudbury,  |  on  a  Fast-Day,  |  preparatory  to  the  chusing  and 
settling  a  |   Gospel    minister  in   that   Place.   |   February   12,   1761. 

[Matt.  ix.  38.]    Boston  :  N.  E Edes  and  GUI,  1761.   8°,  pp.  18. 

—  Ath.     C.     Ct. 

153.  — 1762,  Oct.  7.-— Samuel  Frink,  Boylston,  Mass.  The  mar- 
vellous Works  of  Creation  and  Providence,  |  illustrated.  |  Being  | 
the  Substance  of  a  |  Sermon  |  preached  at  the  North  Precinct  in 
Shrewsbury,  |  on  Thursday  the  7th  of  October,  1762.  |  A  Day  of 
public  Thanksgiving,  |  occasioned  |  by  the  Reduction  of  the  Ha- 
vannah.  [Rev.  xv.  3.]  Boston:  .  .  S.  Kneeland,  .  .  .  1763.  8°, 
pp.  39  (1).  — Ath.     M. 

154.  — 1762,  Dec.  9.  —  Jonathan  Mayhew,  Boston,  Mass.  Two  | 
Sermons  |  on  the  Nature,  Extent  and  Perfection  |  of  the  Divine 
Goodness.  |  Delivered  December  9.  1762.  |  Being  the  |  Annual 
Thanksgiving  |  of  the  Province,  &c.  |  On  Psalm  145.  9.  |  Published 
with  some  Enlargements.  Boston,  N.  E. :  .  .  .  .  D.  and  J.  Kneeland, 
...1763.    8°,pp.  51, 91.  — An.    Ath.    Bo.     Ct.     H.    L.    M.    Y. 

155.  — 1763,  July  6.  —  James  Lockwood,  Wethersfield,  Conn.  A  | 
Sermon  |  Preached  at  Weathersfield,  |  July  6,  1763.  |  Being  the  Day 
appointed  by  Authority  |  for  a  |  Public  Thanksgiving,  |  on  account  of 
the  I  Peace  |  concluded  with  |  France  and  Spain.  [Psa.  1.  14,  15.] 
New-Haven :  .  .  James  Parker  and  Company,  n.  d.  8°,  pp.  35.  — 
Ct.     L.     U. 

156.-1763,  Aug.  11. —  East  Apthorp,  Cambridge,  Mass.  The 
Felicity  of  the  Times.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  preached  at  |  Christ-Church, 
Cambridge,  |  on  Thursday,  XI  August,  MDCCLXIII.  |  Being  a  Day 
of  Thanksgiving  |  for  the  |  General  Peace.  [Psa.  cxlvii.  12-20.] 
Boston:  .  .  Green  and  Russell,  .  .  .  1763.  4°, pp.  (2)  viii.  26.  —  An. 
Bo.    H.    M.    P. 

157.  — 1763,  Aug.  11. —  Henry  Caner,  Boston,  Mass.     The  Great 
Blessing  of  Stable  Times,  |  together  with  |  the  means  of  procuring  it.  | 
A  I  Sermon  |  preached    at  |  King's   Chapel   in   Boston,  |  August   11, 


BIBLIOGRAPHY,  541 

1763,  I  being  a  Day  of  Thanksgiving  ]  appointed  by  Public  Author- 
ity I  on  occasion  of  the  |  General  Peace.  [Isa.  xxxiii.  6.]  Boston :  .  . 
Thomas  and  John  Fleet,  .  .  .  1763.  4°,  pp.  (2)  vi.  24.  — An.  Ath. 
Bo.    H.    M.     Y. 

158.  —  1764,  Apr.  12.  —  Edward  Barnard,  Haverhill,  Mass.     A  | 
Sermon  |  Preach'd   April    12,    1764,  |  on   the  |  Public   Fast,  |  in   the 
Massachusetts-Bay,    |    at    Haverhill    and    Bradford,    West    Parish. 
[Hosea  vii.  9.]     Portsmouth,  in  New-Hampshire :  .  .  Daniel  &  Rob- 
ert Fowle,  1764.     8°,  pp.  22.  —  Ath.     C.    U. 

159.  — 1765,  Dec.  18.  —  Stephen  Johnson,  Lyme,  Conn.  Some  | 
Important  Observations,  |  occasioned  by,  and  adapted  to,  |  the  Publick 
Fast,  I  ordered  by  Authority,  |  December  18th,  A.  D.  1765,  |  on 
Account  of  the  peculiar  Circumstances  of  |  the  present  Day.  |  Now 
humbly  offered  to  the  Publick,  |  by  the  Author.  [Acts.  vii.  6,  7.] 
[Published  anonymously.]  Newport :  .  .  .  .  Samuel  Hall,  1766.  4°, 
pp.  61.  — An.     Ct.     M.     U. 

160.-1766,  May  17.  —  Samuel  Stillman,  Boston,  Mass.  Good 
News  from  a  far  Country.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  preached  at  Boston,  May  17. 
1766.  I  Upon  the  Arrival  of  the  important  News  |  of  the  |  Repeal  of 
the  Stamp- Act.  [Prov.  xxv.  25.]  Boston :  .  .  Kneeland  &  Adams, 
1766.    8°,  pp.  34.  — Ath.    M.    P.    Y. 

161.  —  1766,  May  20.  —  Nathaniel  Appleton,  Cambridge,  Mass. 
A  I  Thanksgiving  |  Sermon  |  on  |  the  Total  Repeal  |  of  the  |  Stamp- 
Act.  I  Preached  |  in  Cambridge,  New-England,  May  20th,  |  in  the 
Afternoon  preceding  the  public  Rejoic-ings  of  the  Evening  upon  that 
great  Occasion.  [Psa.  xxx.  11,  12.]  Boston:  .  .  .  Edes  and  Gill, 
...1766.     8°,  PP..32.  — An.    Ath.     Bo.     C.    H.    M.    U.    Y. 

162.  — 1766,  May  23.  —  Jonathan  Mayhew,  Boston,  Mass.  The 
Snare  broken.  |  A  \  Thanksgiving-Discourse,  |  preached  |  at  the  Desire 
of  the  West  Church  |  in  |  Boston,  N.  E.  Friday  May  23,  1766.  |  Oc- 
casioned by  the  |  Repeal  |  of  the  |  Stamp-Act.  [Psa.  cxxiv.  7,  8.] 
(1)  Boston:  ....  R.  &  S.  Draper,  .  .  .  1766.  8°,  pp.  viii.  44.  —  An. 
Ath.  Ct.  L.  M.  U.  (2)  Boston :  .  .  .  .  R.  &  S.  Draper,  .  .  . 
1766.  8°,  pp.  viii.  9-52.  —  An.  Bo.  Y.  (3)  London :  .  .  G. 
Kearsley,  .  .  .  [1766].  8°,  pp.  vi.  41.  (4)  Reprinted  in  "  Patriot 
Preachers  of  the  American  Revolution,"  1860. 

163.  —  1766,  May  28.  —  Elisha  Fish,  Upton,  Mass.  Joy  and  Glad- 
ness: I  A  I  Thanksgiving  Discourse,  |  preached  in  Upton,  |  Wednes- 
day, )  May  28,  1766 ;  |  Occasioned  by  the  |  Repeal  |  of  the  |  Stamp- 
Act.  [Esther  viii.  15.]  Providence  :  .  .  .  .  Sarah  Goddard  and  Co., 
.  .  .  1767.     12°,  pp.  (2)  17.  — An. 

164.  — 1766  June,  4.  —  David  Sherman  Rowland,  Providence,  R.  I. 
Divine  Providence  |  Illustrated  and  Improved.  |  A  |  Thanksgiving- 
Discourse,  I  preached  |  (By  Desire)  in  the  Presbyterian,  or  |  Congrega- 
tional Church  I  in  |  Providence,  N.  E.  Wednesday  June   4.  1766.  | 


542        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

Being  His  Majesty's  Birth  Day,  and  Day  of  |  Rejoicing,  |  occasioned 
by  the  |  Repeal  |  of  the  |  Stamp-Act.  [Psa.  cxxvi.  3.]  Providence 
(New  England)  :  .  .  Sarah  Goddard  and  Company,  n.  d.  8°,  pp. 
viii.  31.  — An.     Ct.     N.  H.    Y. 

165.  — 1766,  June  25.  —  John  Joachim  Zubly,  Savannah,  Ga.  The 
Stamp-Act  Repealed.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  preached  in  the  meeting  |  at 
Savannah  in  Georgia,  |  June  25th,  1766.  [Zech.  viii.  10-12.]  (1) 
Savannah,  Ga.,  1766.  8°,  pp.  30.  (2)  Savannah,  Ga.,  1766.  8°,  pp. 
30.  (3)  Georgia  Printed :  South-Carolina,  Reprinted  by  Peter  Tim- 
othy, .  .  .  1766.    4°,  pp.  24.— Ath. 

166.  — 1766,  June  26.  —  Benjamin  Troop  [Bozrah],  Norwich, 
Conn.  A  Thanksgiving  |  Sermon,  |  upon  the  Occasion,  of  the  glorious 
News  I  of  the  Repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act ;  |  Preached  in  New-Concord, 
in  Norwich,  |  June  26.  1766.  [Psa.  xiv.  7.]  New  London :  .  .  T. 
Green,  1766.     4°,  pp.  16.  — Ct.     U. 

167.  —  1766,  July  24.  —  Charles  Chauncy,  Boston,  Mass.  A  |  Dis- 
course I  On"  the  good  News  from  |  a  far  Country."  |  Deliver'd  July 
24th.  I  A  day  of  Thanksgiving  to  Almighty  God,  |  throughout  the 
Province  of  the  Massachusetts-  |  Bay  in  New-England,  on  Occasion  of 
the  I  Repeal  of  the  Stamp- Act;  appointed  |  by  his  Excellency,  the 
Governor  of  said  |  Province,  at  the  Desire  of  its  House  of  Re-  |  presen- 
tatives,  with  the  Advice  of  his  |  Majesty's  Council.  [Prov.  xxv.  25.] 
(1)  Boston,  N.  E. :  .  .  Kneeland  and  Adams,  .  .  .  1766.  8°,  pp.  32. 
—  An.  Ath.  C.  Ct.  H.  M.  U.  Y.  (2)  Reprinted  in  "  Pulpit 
of  the  American  Revolution,"  1860. 

168.  — 1766,  July  24.  —  Joseph  Emerson,  Pepperell,  Mass.  A  | 
Thanksgiving-Sermon  |  preach'd  at  Pepperrell,  |  July  24th  1766.  |  A 
day  set  apart  by  public  Authority  |  as  a  day  of  |  Thanksgiving  |  on 
the  account  of  the  Repeal  |  of  the  Stamp-Act.  [Ezi^  ix.  13,  14.] 
Boston:  ....  Edes  and  Gill,  .  .  .  1766.  8°,  pp.  37. —An.  Ath. 
M.     P. 

169.  —  1766,  July  24.  —William  Patten,  Halifax,  Mass.  A  |  Dis- 
course I  delivered  at  Hallif  ax  |  in  the  County  of  Plymouth,  |  July  24th 
1766.  I  On  the  day  of  Thanksgiving  to  Al-  |  mighty  God,  throughout 
the  Province  |  of  the  Massachusetts-Bay  in  New  Eng-  |  land,  for  the 
Repeal  of  the  Stamp-  |  Act.  [Acts  xxii.  28.]  Boston:  N.  E.  .  . 
D.  Kneeland,  ...  for  Thomas  Leverett,  .  .  .  1766.  8°,  pp.  22.  — C. 
Ct.     M. 

170.  — 1766,  Nov.  27.  — Henry  Cumings,  Billerica,  Mass.  A| 
Thanksgiving  |  Sermon  |  Preached  at  Billerica,  |  November  27.  1766. 
[Psa.  xvi.  6.]  Boston :  N.  E.  .  .  Kneeland  and  Adams,  .  .  .  1767. 
8°,pp.  32.  — An.    Ath.    C.    H.    L.    Y. 

171.  —  1767,  June  25. — James  Chandler,  Rowley,  Mass.  Minis- 
ters of  the  Gospel,  Gifts  of  the  Lord  to  |  his  Churches ;  and  to  be 
obtained  by  Prayer.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  preached  |  at  |  Newbury-Port,  | 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  643 

June  25,  1767.  |  A  Fast,  sanctified  by  the  Congregational-  |  Church 
and  Society  there,  under  Bereavement  |  of  their  Pastor.  [Philem.  22.] 
Boston,  N.  E.  .  .  Edes  &  Gill  for  Buckley  Emerson,  .  .  .  1767.  8°, 
pp.  30.  — Ath.    C.    Ct.    H.    N.  H.    Y. 

172. —  1767,  Nov.  19.  —  Abiel  Leonard,  Woodstock,  Conn.  The 
Memory  of  God's  great  goodness  is  to  be  abun-  |  dantly  uttered.  | 
Illustrated  in  a  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  at  Woodstock,  Nov.  19th, 
1767.  I  Being  the  day  of  the  |  Anniversary  Thanksgiving,  |  in  the 
Colony  of  |  Connecticut.  [Psa.  cxlv.  7.]  Providence  [R.  I.]  :  .  .  .  . 
Waterman  and  Russell,  .  .  .  1768.     4°,  pp.  36.  —  An.     C. 

173.  — 1767,  Dec.  3.  —  Amos  Adams,  Roxbury,  Mass.     Religious 
Liberty  an  Invaluable  |  Blessing :  |  illustrated  in  Two  |  Discourses,  | 
preached  at  Roxbury  Dec    3.    1767,  |  being  the  day  of  general  | 
Thanksgiving.    [Gal.  v.  i.]    [With  Hynm.]     Boston,  N.  E. :  .  .  Knee- 
land  and  Adams,  ...  1768.     8°,  pp.  58.  — An.    Ath.     Bo.     Ct.     M. 
U.    Y. 

174.  — 1768,  Dec.  1. — Benjamin  Caryl,  Dover,  Mass.  The  Duty 
of  Thanksgiving  |  opened  and  urged.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  preached  |  at 
Dedham,  4th  Parish,  December  1st,  1768.  |  Being  the  day  of  gen- 
eral Thanksgiving.  [Psa.  cvi.  i.]  Boston  :  .  .  Meinard  Fleeming, 
.  .  .  1769.    8°,  pp.  23.  — Ath.    C. 

175.  — 1768,  Dec.  1. — William  Symmes,  Andover,   Mass.      A  | 
Sermon,  |  delivered  |  at  Andover,  December  1st,  1768.  |  On  the  |  Pub- 
lic Thanksgiving  |  in  the  Massachusetts-Bay.    [Psa.  Ixxviii.  1-4.]    Sa- 
lem: ...  .  Samuel  HaU,  .  .  .  1769.    4°,  pp.  24.  —  An.    Ath.    C.    M. 

176.  — 1769,  Apr.  6.  —  Amos  Adams,  Roxbury,  Mass.  A  concise, 
historical  view  of  the  perils,  hardships,  |  difficulties  and  discourage- 
ments which  have  at-  |  tended  the  planting  and  progressive  im- 
prove- I  ments  of  New-England ;  with  a  particular  ac-  |  count  of  its 
long  and  destructive  wars,  expensive  |  expeditions,  &c.  With  reflec- 
tions, principally,  moral  and  religious.  |  In  Two  |  Discourses,  | 
preached  at  Roxbury  on  the  General  Fast,  |  April  6.  1769.  |  And 
published  at  the  general  Desire  of  the  |  Hearers.  [Luke  i.  74,  75.] 
(1)  Boston :  .  .  Kneeland  and  Adams,  .  .  .  1769.  8°,  pp.  QQ.  —  An. 
Ath.  Bo.  Ct.  H.  M.  (2)  London :  reprinted  for  Edward  and 
Charles  DiUy,  1770.     8°,  pp.  (4)  68.  —  Ath. 

177. —  1770,  Apr.  5.  —  Nathaniel  Appleton,  Cambridge,  Mass. 
The  right  Method  of  addressing  the  Divine  Majesty  in  |  Prayer ;  so 
as  to  support  and  strengthen  our  Faith  in  dark  and  troublesome 
Times,  I  set  forth  in  |  Two  Discourses  |  on  |  April  5.  1770.  |  Being 
the  I  day  of  General  Fasting  and  Prayer  |  through  the  |  Province :  | 
and  m  the  |  Time  of  the  Session  of  the  General  Court  |  at  Cambridge. 
[Psa.  Ixxx.  1-3.]  Boston :  .  .  Edes  and  Gill,  .  .  .  1770.  8°,  pp.  36, 
69.  — An.    Ath.     Ct.    H.     M.    U.     Y. 

178.  — 1770,  Apr.  18.  —  Judah  Champion,  Litchfield,  Conn.  A  brief 


544        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

View  of  the   Distresses,  Hardships  and  Dangers  |  our  Ancestors  en- 
counter'd,  in  settling  New-England  —  |  the  Privileges  we  enjoy,  and 
our  Obligations  thence  |  arising ;   with  moral  Keflections  thereupon.  | 
In  two  I  Sermons,  |  delivered  at  |  Litchfield,  |  on  the  |  General  Fast,  | 
April  18,  1770.     [Deut.  iv.  37-40.]     Hartford  :  .  .  Green  &  Watson, 
...1770.    4^pp.  45.— An.    C.    Ct.    H.    L. 

179.  — 1770,  Dec.  6. —John  Browne,  Cohasset,  Mass.  A  |  Dis- 
course I  delivered  |  on  the  day  of  the  Annual  Provincial  |  Thanks- 
giving, I  December  6,  1770.  [Dan.  vi.  10.]  Boston,  N.  E. :  .  . 
Thomas  and  John  Fleet,  1771.     8^,  pp.  15.  —An.     C.     M.     U. 

180.  — 1770,  Dec.  6.  —  Ebenezer  Gay,  Hingham,  Mass.  The  De- 
votions of  God's  People  adjusted  |  to  the  Dispensations  of  his  Provi- 
dence. I  A  I  Sermon  |  preached  |  in  the  First  Parish  of  Hingham,  | 
December  6,  1770.  |  The  day  observed  throughout  the  Province  as 
a  I  day  of  public  Thanksgiving  and  Prayer.  [Jer.  xxxi.  7.]  Boston : 
..  Eichard  Draper,  1771.     8°,  pp.  23.  —  An.     Ath.     C.     M.    U.    Y. 

181.— 1772,  Dec.  3.  — Allen  [John?]  [Rev.  Isaac  Skillman  ?] 
Boston,  Mass.  An  |  Oration,  |  on  the  |  Beauties  of  Liberty  |  or  the 
essential  |  Rights  of  the  Americans.  |  Delivered  |  at  the  Second 
Baptist-Church  in  Boston,  |  upon  the  last  Annual  Thanksgiving,  Dec. 
3d,  1772.  .  .  .  By  a  British  Bostonian.  [Micah  vii.  3.]  (1)  Boston: 
N.  E.  .  .  D.  Kneeland  and  N.  Davis,  1773.  8°,  pp.  31.  — M.  (2) 
Same.  — M.  (3)  New  London:  .  .  T.  Green,  .  .  .  1773.  8°,  pp.  23. 
—  Ct.  (4)  Boston,  N.  E. :  .  .  E.  Russell,  1773.  8°,  pp.  80.  —  Ct.  (5) 
Hartford:  .  .  Ebenezer  Watson,  1774.  8%  pp.  40.  — Ct.  (6)  Wil- 
mington: ....  James  Adams,  .  .  .  1775.  8°,  pp.  21.  ["Last 
Thanksgiving  P.  M.  Mr.  Allen,  a  British  Bostonian  preached  a  Ser- 
mon at  the  Rev.  Mr.  Davis's  Meeting-House  from  those  words  Micah 
vii.  3.  etc."  — New  London  Gazette,  Dec.  18,  1772.] 

182.  — 1774,  Apr.  29.  —  Samuel  Dunbar,  Stoughton,  Mass.     The 
Duty  of  Christs  Ministers  to  be  Spiritual  |  Labourers  ;  and  the  Duty  of 
Christs  I  Churches  to  pray  to  God  for  such.  |  Exhibited  in  a  Sermon  | 
from  Matthew  ix.  38  |  preached  at  Dorchester,  |  April  29,  1774.  | 
A   Day  set  apart   by  the   Church   and    Congre-  |  gation  there,   for 
Solemn  Humiliation  and  |  Supplication,  to  seek  the  divine  Direction  | 
and  Blessing  in  the  Choice  and  Settle-  |  ment  of  a  Minister  among 
them.    Boston:  .  .  Mills  and  Hicks,      .  .  1775.      8°,  pp.  28.  — Ct. 
M.    Y. 

183.  — 1774,  July  14.  —  Nathan  Fiske,  Brookfield,  Mass.  The  Im- 
portance of  Righteousness  to  |  the  Happiness,  and  the  Tendency  of  | 
Oppression  to  the  Misery  |  of  a  People  ;  illustrated  |  in  Two  |  Dis- 
courses I  delivered  at  Brookfield,  July  14,  1774.  |  Being  a  day  ob- 
served by  general  consent  through  the  Province,  |  (at  the  recommen- 
dation of  the  late  House  of  Representatives)  |  as  a  |  day  of  Fasting 
and  Prayer,  |  on  account  of  the  |  Threatening  Aspect  of  our  Public 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  545 

Affairs.      [Isa.   v.    7.]    Boston:  .  .  John   Kneeland,  .  .  .  1774.     8°, 
pp.  40.  — Ath.     C.     Ct.    M.     U. 

184.  — 1774,  July  14.  —  Timothy  Hilliard,  Barnstable,  Mass.  The 
duty  of  a  People  under  the  oppression  of  Man,  |  to  seek  deliverance 
from  God.  |  The  substance  of  |  Two  Sermons,  |  delivered  at  |  Barn- 
stable, I  July  14th,  1774.  |  A  day  set  apart  for  Humiliation  and 
Prayer,  on  |  account  of  the  present  dark  and  melancholy  aspect  |  of 
our  Public  affairs.  [Psa.  cxix.  134.]  Boston :  .  .  Greenleaf's  Print- 
ing-Office, ...  1774.     8°,  pp.  31.  — An.     C.     L.     M. 

185.  — 1774,  July  14.  —  Thaddeus  Maccarty,  Worcester,  Mass. 
Reformation  of  manners,  of  absolute  necessity  |  in  order  to  conciliate 
the  divine  favour,  in  |  times  of  public  evil  and  distress.  |  Shewn  in 
two  I  Sermons,  |  preached  at  |  Worcester,  |  upon  a  special  Fast  ob- 
served there,  as  well  as  |  in  many  other  Towns,  |  July  14th,  1774.  | 
On  account  of  the  public  difficulties  |  of  the  present  Day.  [1  Pet. 
V.  6.]  Boston:  ....  William  M' Alpine,  1774.  8°,  pp.  38.  — An. 
Ct.     M. 

186.  —  1774,  July  14. —  David  Sherman  Rowland,  Providence,  R.  I. 
Despotism  Illustrated  and  Improved  from  the  Character  of  Rehoboam ; 
a  Discourse,  delivered  at  Wrentham,  Mass.,  on  a  Day  of  Fasting  and 
Prayer,  July  14,  1774.  —  Honesdale  (Pa.)  "  Democrat,"  Apr.  14,  1846. 

187. —  1774,  July  14. — Samuel  Webster,  Salisbury,  Mass.  The 
Misery  and  Duty  of  an  oppress'd  |  and  enslav'd  People,  represented  | 
in  a  I  Sermon  |  delivered  at  Salisbury,  July  14,  1774.  |  On  a  day  set 
apart  for  Fasting  and  Prayer,  |  on  account  of  approaching  public 
Calamities.  [Neh.  ix.  36-38.]  Boston :  .  .  Edes  and  Gill,  .  .  .  1774. 
8°,  pp.  31.  — An.    Ath.     Bo.     C.     Ct.    H.    M.    Y. 

188.  —  1774,  July  14.  —  Peter  Whitney,  Northborough,  Mass.  The 
Transgression  of  a  Land  punished  by  |  a  multitude  of  Rulers,  j  Con- 
sidered in  two  I  Discourses,  |  delivered  July  14,  1774,  |  being  volun-  ' 
tarily  observed  in  most  of  the  religious  As-  |  semblies  throughout 
the  Province  of  |  Massachusetts-Bay,  |  as  a  daj"  of  |  Fasting  and 
Prayer,  |  on  account  of  the  Dark  Aspect  of  our  |  Public  Affairs. 
[Prov.  xxviii.  2.]  Boston  :  .  .  John  Boyle,  .  .  .  1774.  8°,  pp.  34, 
71.  — An.     Ct.     H.     L.    M.    U. 

189.  — 1774,  Aug.  31. —Samuel  Sherwood,  [Norfield]  Weston, 
Conn.  A  |  Sermon,  |  Containing,  |  Scriptural  Instructions  to  Civil 
Rulers,  |  and  all  Free-bom  Subjects.  |  In  which  the  Principles  of 
sound  Policy  and  good  |  Government  are  established  and  vindicated  ; 
and  I  some  Doctrines  advanced  and  zealously  propagated  |  by  New- 
England  Tories,  are  considered  |  and  refuted.  |  Delivered  on  the  public 
Fast,  I  August  31,  1774.  |  With  an  Address  to  the  Freemen  of  the 
Colony.  .  .  .  Also,  An  Appendix,  |  Stating  the  heavy  Grievances  the 
Colonies  labour  under  |  from  several  late  Acts  of  the  British  Parlia- 
ment, I  and  shewing  what  we  have  just  Reason  to  expect  the  |  Con- 


546         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

sequences  of  these  Measures  will  be.  |  By  the  Rev.  Ebenezer  Bald- 
win, of  Danbury.  [2  Sam.  xxiii.  3.]  New-Haven:  .  .  T.  and  S. 
Green,  n.d.  8°,  pp.  x,  11-42  ;  xliii-xlvi,  47-82.  —  C.  Ct.  L.  M. 
U.    Y. 

190.  — 1774,  Dec.  15.  —  Jonathan  Bascom,  Eastham,  Mass.     A  | 
Sermon  |  preached   at  |  Eastham,  |  on  |  Thanksgiving-Day,  |  Decem- 
ber 15,  1774.     [Ecc.  vii.  14.]    Boston :  .  .  Edes  and  GiU,  .  .  .  1775. 
8°,  pp.  20.  —  An.    M. 

191.  — 1774,  Dec.  15.  —  William  Gordon,  [Jamaica  Plain]  Rox- 
bury,  Mass.  A  |  Discourse  |  preached  |  in  the  morning  |  of  |  De- 
cember 15th  1774.  I  Being  the  day  recommended  |  by  the  Provincial 
Congress.  [Lam.  iii.  22.]  Boston :  Printed  for  .  .  .  Thomas  Lever- 
ett,  .  .  .  1775.    8°,  pp.  22.  — An.    Ath.    C.     Ct.    H.     M.    U. 

192.  — 1774,  Dec.  15.  —  William  Gordon,  [Jamaica  Plain]  Rox- 
bury,  Mass.  A  |  Discourse  |  preached  |  December  15th,  1774.  |  Being 
the  day  recommended  |  by  the  Provincial  Congress  ;  |  and  afterwards 
at  the  Boston  Lecture.  [Lam.  iii.  22.]  [Another  sermon  than  the 
last.  Preached  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day.]  (1)  Boston: 
Printed  for  .  .  .  Thomas  Leverett,  .  .  .  1775.  8°,  pp.  32  (2).— An. 
Ath.  Bo.  Ct.  M.  U.  (2)  London :  .  .  Edward  and  Charles  Dilly, 
1775.  8°,  pp.  36.  —  Ath.  (3)  Reprinted  in  "  Pulpit  of  the  American 
Revolution,"  1860. 

193.  —  1774,  Dec.  15. — John  Lathrop,  Boston,  Mass.  A  |  Dis- 
course I  preached,  |  December  15th  1774.  |  Being  the  day  recom- 
mended I  by  the  Provincial  Congress,  |  to  be  observed  |  in  thanks- 
giving to  God  for  the  Blessings  |  enjoyed ;  and  humiliation  on  account 
of  I  public  Calamities.  [Psa.  ci.  1.]  Boston :  .  .  D.  Kneeland,  .  .  . 
1774.    8°,  pp.  39.— An.    Ath.    C.    Ct.    L.    M.    U.    Y. 

194.  — 1774,  Dec.  15. — Joseph  Lyman,  Hatfield,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon I  preached  |  at  Hatfield  |  December  15th,  1774,  )  being  the  day 
recommended  |  by  the  late  Provincial  Congress;  |  to  be  observed 
as  I  a  Day  of  Thanksgiving.  [Mai.  iii.  1,  2.]  Boston:  ....  Edes 
and  Gill,  .  .  .  1775.    8°,  pp.  32.  — An.     C.     Ct.     L. 

195.  —  1774,  Dec.  15.  —  Isaac  Story,  Marblehead,  Mass.  The  Love 
of  our  Country  Re-  |  commended  and  Enforced.  |  In  a  |  Sermon  |  from 
Psalm  cxxii.  7,  |  delivered  on  a  day  of  |  Public  Thanksgiving,  |  De- 
cember 15,  1774.  Boston:  ....  John  Boyle,  .  .  .  1774.  8°,  pp. 
23.  — Ath.    C.    H. 

196.  —  1774,  Dec.  15.  —  Samuel  WiUiams,  Bradford,  Mass.     A  | 
Discourse  |  on  the  |  Love  of  our  Country  ;  |  delivered  |  on  a  day  of 
Thanksgiving,  |  December  15,    1774.     [Psa.    cxxxvii.  5,  6.]     Salem, 
New-England :  .  .  Samuel  and  Ebenezer  Hall,  1775.     8°,  pp.  29.  — 
Ath.    Ct.    M.    U.    Y. 

197.  —  1775,  May  11.  —William  Stearns. 

A    View    of    the    Controversy     subsisting    between  |  Great-Britain 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  547 

and  the  American  Colonies.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  preaclied  |  at  a  |  Fast,  | 
in  I  Marlborough    in     Massachusetts-Bay,  |  on  |  Thursday,   May  11, 
1775.  I  Agreeable  to  a  recommendation  of  the  Provincial  CongTess. 
[2  Chron.  xx.  11,  12.]     Watertown :  .  .  Benjamin  Edes,  1775.     8°, 
pp.  33.  —  Ath.    C.    H.    M. 

198.  — 1775,  July  20.  —  Samuel  Andrews.  A  Fast  Sermon.  New- 
Haven.     8°,  pp.  18.     See  Sabin. 

199.  —  1775,  July  20.  —  Daniel  Batwell. 

A  I  Sermon,  |  Preached  at  York-Town,  |  Before  Captain  Morgan's 
and  Captain  |  Price's  Companies  of  Rifle-Men,  |  On  Thursday,  July 
20,  1775.  j  Being  the  Day  recommended  by  the  |  Honorable  Continen- 
tal Congress  |  for  |  A  General  Fast  |  throughout  the  |  Twelve  United 
Colonies  |  Of  North- America.  Philadelphia:  .  .  John  Dunlap,  .  .  . 
1775.    8°,  pp.  20.  —  Lib.  Co.  of  Phil. 

200.  — 1775,  July  20.  —  Thomas  Coombe,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  A  | 
Sermon,  |  Preached  before  the  Congregations  of  |  Christ  Church  and 
St.  Peter's,  |  Philadelphia,  |  on  Thursday,  July  20,  1775.  |  Being  the 
Day  recommended  by  the  |  Honorable  Continental  Congress  |  for  |  a 
General  Fast  |  throughout  the  |  Twelve  United  Colonies  |  of  North- 
America.  [2  Chron.  XX.  11-13.]  [Dedication  to  Benjamin  Franklin.] 
(1)  Philadelphia:  .  .  John  Dunlap,  .  .  .  1775.  8°,  pp.  (4)  29.— 
Ath.     H.     L.     (2)  Same.     (3)  Newport  (R.  I.),  1776. 

201.  —1775,  July  20.— Jacob  Duche,  Philadelphia,  Pa.     The  | 
American  Vine,  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  preached  in  Christ-Church,  Philadel- 
phia, I  before  the    Honourable  |  Continental  Congress,   |  July  20th, 
1775.  I  Being  the  day  recommended  by  them  |  for  a  General  Fast  | 
throughout  the  |  United  English  Colonies  |  of   America.     [Psa.  Ixxx. 
14.]     Philadelphia:  .  .  James   Humphreys,   Jr.,    1775.     8°,  pp.   34. 

—  Ath.     Ct.     M. 

202.  —  [1775  ?]  —  Jacob  Green,  Hanover,  N.  J.  "  The  nature  of 
an  acceptable  Fast,"  preached  on  a  Fast  day  appointed  by  Congress. 

—  Sprague's  Annals,  iii.  139. 

203.  —  1775,  July  20.  —  Enoch  Huntington,  Middletown,  Conn. 
A  I  Sermon,  |  delivered  at  |  Middletown,  |  July  20th,  A.  D.  1775,  | 
the  day  appointed  by  the  |  Continental  Congress,  |  to  be  observed  by 
the  Inhabitants  of  all  the  |  English  Colonies  |  on  this  Continent,  as  a 
day  of  public  |  Humiliation,  Fasting,  and  Prayer.  [Neh.  vi.  8,  9.] 
Hartford  :  .  .  Eben  Watson,  n.  d.     12°,  pp.  26.  —  Ath.     Ct.     M.     Y. 

204.  —  [1775,  July  20.]  —David  Jones,  Tredyffryn,  Pa.  Defensive 
War  in  a  just  Cause  |  Sinless.  |  A  Sermon,  |  Preached  |  on  the  day  of 
the  Continental  Fast,  |  at  |  Tredyffryn,  in  Chester  County.  Phila- 
delphia :  .  .  Henry  Miller,  1775.     8°,  pp.  27.  —  Hist.  Soc.  of  Penn. 

205.  — 1775,  July  20.  —  Joseph  Montgomery,  Newcastle,  Del.   A  | 
Sermon,  |  preached  at  |  Christiana  Bridge  and  Newcastle,  |  the  20th 
of  July,  1775.  I  Being  the  day  appointed  by  the  |  Continental  Con- 


548        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  IMYS. 

^ress,  I  as  a  day  of  Fasting,  Humiliation,  |  and  Prayer.  Philadelphia : 
.  .  James  Humphreys,  Jun.,  .  .  .  1775.  8°,  pp.  30.  —  Hist.  Soc.  of 
Penn. 

206.  — 1775,  July  20.  —  Ezra  Sampson,  Plympton,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon I  preached  at  |  Roxbury  -  Camp,  |  before  Col.  Cotton's  Regi- 
ment ;  I  on  the  20th  of  July,  P.  M.  1775.  |  Being  |  a  day  set  apart  for 
Fasting  and  Prayer,  through-  |  out  all  the  United  Colonies  in  America. 
[2  Chron.  xx.  11,  12.]  Watertown :  .  .  .  .  Benjamin  Edes,  1775. 
8°,  pp.  24.  — An.     C. 

207.  —  1775,  July  20.  —  William  Smith,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  A  Fast 
Sermon  |  Preached  at  All-Saints  Church,  |  in  the  County  of  Phila- 
delphia, I  July  20,  1775,  |  being  |  the  First  American  Fast  |  Recom- 
mended by  Congress.  [Isa.  Iviii.  4-7.]  Philadelphia:  .  .  Hugh 
Maxwell  and  William  Fry,  1803.     8°.     Works,  ii.  111-126. 

208.  — 1775,  Nov.  16.  — Ebenezer  Baldwin,  Danbury,  Conn.  The 
Duty  of  Rejoicing  |  under  |  Calamities  and  Afflictions,  |  considered 
and  improved  |  in  a  |  Sermon,  |  preached  at  |  Danbury,  |  November 
16,  1775.  I  A  day  set  apart  for  Thanksgiving  in  |  the  Colony  of  Con- 
necticut. [Hab.  iii.  17,  18.]  New  York :  .  .  Hugh  Gaine,  .  .  .  1776. 
8o,pp.  42.  — Ath.     Ct.    U.    Y. 

209.  —  1775,  Nov.  16.  —  Robert  Ross,  Stratfield,  Conn.  A  (  Ser- 
mon, I  in  which  the  |  Union  of  the  Colonies  |  is  considered  and 
recommended ;  |  and  the  bad  |  Consequences  of  Divisions  |  are  rep- 
resented. I  Delivered  on  the  |  Public  Thanksgiving.  |  November 
Sixteenth,  1775.  [Judg.  v.  15,  16.]  New  York:  .  .  John  Holt, 
.  .  .  1776.    8°,  pp.  28.  — Ct.    M.    Y. 

210.  — 1775,  Nov.  23.  —  Henry  Cumings,  Billerica,  Mass.  A  | 
Sermon,  |  preached  in  Billerica,  |  on  the  23d  of  November,  1775.  |  Be- 
ing the  day  appointed  by  Civil  Authority,  |  for  a  |  Public  Thanksgiv- 
ing I  throughout  the  Province  of  Massachusetts-Bay.  [Psa.  Ixxvii.  7- 
12.]  Massachusetts-Bay :  Worcester,  .  .  I.  Thomas,  .  .  .  n.  d.  8°, 
pp.  29.  — An.     Ath.     C.     H.     Y. 

211.  — 1775,  Nov.  23.  —  Thaddeus  Maccarty,  Worcester,  Mass. 
Praise  to  God,  a  Duty  of  |  Continual  Obligation.  |  A  |  Sermon,  | 
preached  at  Worcester,  |  Thursday,  November  23d,  1775.  |  Being  a 
day  of  Public  Thanksgiving,  |  by  the  appointment  of  the  General 
Assembly.  [Psa.  xxxiv.  1.]  Worcester  :  .  .  I.  Thomas,  .  .  .  n.  d. 
8°,  pp.  28.  — An.    Ath.     H.     L.    M.     U. 

212.  —  1775,  Nov.   23.  —  Isaac  Mansfield,  Exeter,  N.  H.     A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  preached  in  the  |  Camp  at  Roxbury,  |  November  23,  1775 ;  | 
being  the  day  appointed  by  Authority  |  for  Thanksgiving  through 
the  I  Province.     [Gen.  xxvii.  9-13.]     Boston  :  .  .  S.  Hall,   .  .  .  1776. 
8°,  pp.  27  (1).— An.    Ath.     Ct.     P.    U. 

213.  —  1775,  Nov.  30.  —  Eleazar  Wheelock,  Hanover,  N.  H.  Lib- 
erty of  Conscience  ;  or,  no   King  but  |  Christ,   in  his  Church  :  |  A  | 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  549 

Sermon,  |  preached   at  |  Dartmouth-Hall,  |  November  80th,  1775 ;  | 
being  the  day  appointed  by  the  |  Honourable  Congress  |  of  the  Prov- 
ince of  I  NeAv-Hampshire,  |  to  be  observed  as  a  |  General  Thanksgiv- 
ing    throughout   that    Province.      [John   xviii.    36.]      Hartford:  .  . 
Eben.  Watson,  .  .  .  n.  d.     8°,  pp.  31.  —  C.     Ct.     L.     M.     U. 

214.  — 1776,  Jan.  17.  —  Andrew  Lee  [Hanover],  Lisbon,  Conn.  Sin 
destructive  of  temporal  and  eternal  Happiness :  |  and  |  Repentance, 
Trust  in  God,  and  a  vigorous,  harmonious,  |  and  persevering  Oppo- 
sition, the  Duty  of  a  People,  |  when  wicked  and  unreasonable  Men  are 
attempting  |  to  enslave  them.  |  Set  forth  in  a  |  Discourse  |  delivered 
at  Hanover,  in  Norwich,  |  January  17th,  A.  D.  1776  :  |  being  a  day 
set  apart  for  Fasting  and  Prayer  |  throughout  the  Colony  of  Connect- 
icut. [Isa.  V.  20.]  Norwich :  .  .  Judah  P.  Spooner,  1776.  8°,  pp. 
i>8.  — C.    Ct.    U. 

215.  — 1776,  Jan.  17.  —  Samuel  Sherwood,  [Norfield]  Weston, 
Conn.  The  |  Church's  Flight  |  into  the  |  Wilderness :  |  An  I  Ad- 
dress I  on  the  Times.  |  Containing  |  some  very  interesting  and  im- 
portant Observations  on  |  Scripture  Prophecies :  |  Shewing,  that 
sundry  of  them  plainly  relate  to  Great-  |  Britain,  and  the  American 
Colonies  ;  |  and  are  fulfilling  in  the  present  day.  |  Delivered  on  a  Public 
Occasion,  January  17,  1776.  [Rev.  xii.  14-17.]  New  York:  .  . 
Printed  by  S.  Loudon,  1776.     8°,  pp.  54.  —  An.     Ath.     Ct. 

216.  —  1776,  May  17.  —  John  Withei-spoon,  Princeton,  N.  J.  The 
Dominion  of  Providence  over  the  Pas-  |  sions  of  Men.  |  A  |  Sermon  | 
preached  |  at  Princeton,  |  on  the  17th  of  May,  1776.  |  Being  |  the  Gen- 
eral Fast  appointed  by  the  Congress  |  through  the  United  Colonies. 
[With  an  address  to  the  natives  of  Scotland  residing  in  America.] 
[Psa.  Ixxvi.  10.]    (1)  Philadelphia:  .  .  .  .  R.  Aitken,  .  .  .  1776.    8°, 

pp.   (4)   78.  —  An.     Ath.     Ct.     H.     Y.     (2)   (3) (4) 

Glasgow:  Reprinted,  1777.     8°, pp. 56.  —  Y.     (5)  London:  Reprinted 
for  Fielding  &  Walker,  1778.     8°,  pp.  24.  —  Ath.     H. 

217.— 1776,  Dec.  5.  —  Eliphalet  Wright,  Killingly,  Conn.  A 
People  ripe  for  an  Harvest.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  to  the  Church 
and  Congregation,  in  the  fourth  |  Society  in  Killingly,  |  on  a  day  of 
public  Thanksgiving,  Decem-  |  ber  5,  A.  D.  1776.  [Rev.  xiv.  18.] 
Norwich:  .  .  J.  Trumbull,  n.  d.     12°,  pp.  20.  —  Ct. 

218.  —  [1777,  Jan.  29.]  —  Cyprian  Strong,  [Portland]  Chatham. 
Conn.  God's  care  of  the  New-England  colonies ;  —  His  |  reasonable 
demands  of  them  ;  —  the  fruits  they  |  have  produced  ;  —  and  what  they 
have  now  |  reason  to  fear  and  expect,  from  his  righteous  |  dispensa- 
tions, illustrated  and  improved :  |  in  a  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  in  the  first 
Society  of  |  Chatham,  |  on  a  day  of  |  Fasting  and  Prayer.  [Isa.  v.  1- 
5.]  Hartford:  .  .  Eben.  Watson,  .  .  .  n.  d.  16°,  pp.  31.  —  C.  Ct. 
H.    U. 

219.—  1777,  Jan.  30  (?).— Josiah  Stearns,  Epping,  N.   H.     Two  | 


550         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

Sermons,  |  Preached  at  Epping,  |  in  the  |  State  of  New-Hampshire,  | 
January  30th,  1777.  |  On  a  Public  Fast,  |  appointed  by  Authority,  on 
account  of  the  un-  |  natural  and  distressing  War  with  Great-  |  Bi-itain, 
in  defence  of  Liberty.     [Judg.  xx.  26-28.]    Newburyport :  .  .  John 
Mycall,  1777.    8°,  pp.  39.  —  C.    Ct. 

220.  —  1777,  Nov.  20.  —  Samuel  Spring,  Newburyport,  Mass.    A  | 
Sermon  |  delivered  at  the  |    North  Congregational  Church  |  in  |  New- 
buryport, I  on  a  day  of     Public  |  Thanksgiving;  |  November    20th, 
MDCCLXXVII.      [Psa.  Ixv.   1.]     Newburyport:   .  .  John  Mycall, 
1778.    8°,  pp.  32.  — An.    Ath.     C.    Ct. 

221.-1777,  Dec.  18.  —  David  Avery,  Windsor,  Vt.  The  Lord  is 
to  be  praised  for  the  Triumphs  |  of  his  Power.  |  A  |  Sermon,  | 
preached  at  Greenwich,  in  Connecticut,  |  on  the  18th  of  December 
1777,  I  being  |  a  General  Thanksgiving  through  the  |  United  Ameri- 
can States.  [Ex.  xv.  11.]  Norwich:  .  .  Green  &  Spooner,  1778. 
8°,  pp.  47.  —  An.     Ct.    L.    Y. 

222.  —  1777,  Dec.  18.     Timothy  Dwight,  New  Haven,  Conn.    A  | 
Sermon,  |  preached  at  |  Stamford,  |  in  |  Connecticut,  |  upon  the  |  Gen- 
eral Thanksgiving,  j  December  18th,  1777.     [Joel  ii.  20,  21.]     [Pub- 
lished Anonymously.]     Hartford:  .  .  Watson   and   Goodwin,   1778. 
16°,  pp.  16.  — Ct. 

223.  — 1777,  Dec.  18.  — Israel  Evans,  Philadelphia,  Pa.     A  |  Dis- 
course, I  delivered,  |  on  the  18th  day  of  December,  1777,  the  day  of  | 
Public  Thanksgiving,  |  appointed  by    the  |  Honourable  |  Continental 
Congress.     [Psa.  cxv.]      Lancaster   [Pa.]  :  .  .  Francis   Bailey,  1778. 
12°,  pp.  24.  —  Ct.    H. 

224.  —  1779,  Nov.  4.  —  John  Murray,  Newburyport,  Mass.  Nehe- 
miah,  |  or  the  Struggle  for  Liberty  never  in  vain,  when  |  managed 
with  Virtue  and  Perseverance.  |  A  |  Discourse  |  delivered  at  the  | 
Presbyterian  Church  |  in  |  Newbury-Port,  |  Nov.  4th,  1779.  |  Being 
the  day  appointed  by  Government  to  be  obser-  |  ved  as  a  day  of  sol- 
emn Fasting  and  Prayer  through-  |  out  the  State  of  Massachusetts- 
Bay.  [Neh.  vi.  16.]  Newbury:  .  .  John  MycaU,  1779.  12°,  pp. 
56.— An.    Ath.     Bo.     C.     Ct.    H. 

225.  —  1780,  Dec.  7.  —  Nathan  Strong,  Hartford,  Conn.  The 
Agency  and  Providence  of  God  |  acknowledged,  in  the  Preservation 
of  I  the  American  States.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  preached  at  the  |  Annual 
Thanksgiving,  1  December  7th  1780.  [Job  v.  12-16.]  Hartford:  .  . 
Hudson  and  Goodwin,  1780.     8°,  pp.  24.  —  Ct.    L.    Y. 

226.  —  1781,  May  3.  —  Joseph  Roby  [Saugus],  Lynn,  Mass.     A  | 
Sermon  |  delivered  |  at  1  Lynn  |  on  the  |  General  Fast  |  May  3,  1781. 
[Isa.  X.  6,  7.]     Boston :  .  .  T.  and  J.  Fleet,  1781.     8°,  pp.  31.  —  C. 
H.    M. 

227.  — 1781,  May  3.  —  William  Smith,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  A  Fast 
Sermon,  |  Preached  in  Chester  Chapel,  |  Kent  County,  Maryland,  | 


BIBLIOGRAPHY,  551 

May  3,  1781.    [Isa.  Iviii.  3.]     Philadelphia :  .  .  Hugh  Maxwell  and 
William  Fry,  1803.     8°.     Works,  ii.  127-140. 

228.  — 1781,  Dec.  13.  —  Samuel  Cooke,  Cambridge,  Mass.  The 
American  Revolution  in  a  NutsheU.  "  Wobum  Journal,"  Apr.  18, 
1874.  —  H. 

229.  — 1781,  Dec.  13.  —  Israel  Evans,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  A  |  Dis- 
course I  delivered  |  near  York  in  Virginia,  |  on  the  |  Memorable  Occa- 
sion I  of  the  I  Surrender  of  the  British  Army  |  to  the  |  Allied  Forces 
of  America  and  France,  |  before  |  the  Brigade  of  New- York  Troops 
and  the  Division  of  |  American  Light-Infantry,  under  the  Command  of 
the  I  Marquis  de  la  Fayette.  [1  Sam.  vii.  12.]  Philadelphia  :  .  . 
Francis  Bailey,  .  .  .  1782.     8°,  pp.45  (1).  — Ath.     C. 

230. —  1781,  Dec.  13.  — James  Madison,  Williamsburg,  Va.     A  | 
Sermon,  |  preached  in  the  |  County  of  Botetourt,  |  on  the  13th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1781.  I  Being  the  day  appointed  by  Congress  to  be  observed  | 
with  prayer  and  thanksgiving.     [Pro v.  xiv.  34.]     [Error  in  month  in 
the  title.]    Richmond :   .  .  .  Nicolson  &  Prentis,  .  .  .  n.  d.     8°,   pp. 
19.  — C. 

231.  —  1781,  Dec.  13.  —  Robert  Smith,  Pequea,  Pa.  The  |  Obliga- 
tions I  of  the  I  Confederate  States  of  North  America  |  to  praise  God.  | 
Two  sermons,  |  Preached  at  Pequea,  December  13th,  1781,  the  | 
day  recommended  by  the  Honorable  Congress  to  |  the  several  States, 
to  be  observed  as  a  Day  of  |  Thanksgiving  to  God,  for  the  various 
inter-  |  positions  of  his  Providence  in  their  favour,  during  |  their  con- 
test with  Great  Britain,  |  particularly  those  |  of  the  present  year, 
crowned  by  the  capture  of  |  Lord  Cornwallis  with  his  whole  army. 
[Psa.  Ixvii.  5.]  Philadelphia  :  .  .  Francis  Bailey,  .  .  .  1782.  8°, 
pp.  (4)  36.  —  M. 

232.  — 1781,  Dec.  13.— WiUiam  Smith,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  [A 
Sermon]  Preached  in  Chester  Chapel,  |  Kent  County,  Maryland,  | 
December  13,  1781.  |  Being  a  day  of  General  Thanksgiving  and 
Prayer,  Recom-  |  mended  by  Congress,  throughout  the  United  States. 
[Ex.  XV.  1.]  Philadelphia:  .  .  Hugh  Maxwell  and  WiUiam  Fry, 
1803.    8°.     Works,  u.  141-154. 

233.  — 1783,  May  15.  —  David  Tappan,  Newbury,  Mass.  The 
Question  answered,  |  Watchman,  what  of  the  Night?  |  A  |  Discourse  | 
delivered  |  at  Newbury,  May  15,  1783,  |  being  the  day  appointed 
by  Authority  |  for  |  the  Annual  Fast,  |  in  |  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts.  [Isa.  xxi.  11,  12.]  Salem :  .  .  Samuel  Hall,  .  .  . 
1783.     12°,  pp.  19.  —  An.    Ath.     C.     Ct.     L.    U. 

234.  — 1783,  May  15.  —  Charles  Turner,  Cambridge,  Mass.  Due 
Glory  to  be  given  to  God.  |  A  |  Discourse  |  containing  |  Two  Ser- 
mons I  preached  in  |  Cambridge  |  May  15,  1783.  |  Being  a  day  ap- 
pointed by  Government  |  for  public  Fasting  and  Prayer.  [1  Chron. 
xvi.29.]  Boston:  .  .  T.  and  J.  Fleet,  1783.  8°,  pp. 35.  —  An.  Ath. 
C.    L.    U. 


552         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

235.  —  [1783,  Dec.  11.]  —  Thomas  Brockway,  [Columbia]  Lebanon, 
Conn.  America  saved,  or  Divine  Glory  dis-  |  played,  in  the  late  War 
with  Great-  |  Britain.  |  A  |  Thanksgiving  |  Sermon,  |  preached  in  | 
Lebanon,  Second  Society,  |  and  now  offered  to  the  Public,  at  the  De- 
sire of  a  Num-  |  ber  of  the  Hearers.  [Judg.  v.  21.]  Hartford  :  .  . 
Hudson  and  Goodwin,  n.  d.     8°,pp.24.  — C.     Ct.     L.     M.     Y. 

236. —  1783,  Dec.  11.  —  Joseph  Buckminster,  Portsmouth,  N.  H. 
A  I  Discourse  |  delivered  |  in  the  |  First  Church  of  Christ,  |  at  |  Ports- 
mouth, I  on  I  Thursday,  December  11th,  1783;  |  being  the  day  rec- 
ommended by  the  honorable  |  Congress  |  for  a  |  General  Thanksgiv- 
ing I  throughout  the  |  United  States  of  America,  |  after  the  |  Ratifi- 
cation of  a  Treaty  of  Peace,  |  in  the  |  Ultimate  Acknowledgment  |  of 
their  |  Sovereignty  and  Independence.  [Psa.  xcviii.  1.]  Portsmouth, 
N.  H.,  .  .  Robert  Gerrish,  1784.     8°,  pp.  33.  —An.     C.     Ct. 

237. —  1783,  Dec.  11.  — Rozel   Cook,    [Montville]   New   London, 
Conn.      A  |  Sermon,  |  delivered   at  |  New-London,   North  Parish,  | 
Upon   the  |  Anniversary  Thanksgiving,  |  December  11,  1783.     [Psa. 
civ.  34.]     [With  Hymn.]     New  London:  .  .  Timothy  Green,  1784. 
8°,  pp.  30.  —  Ct.     L.     U. 

238.  —  1783,  Dec.  1 1.  —  Henry  Cumings,  Billerica,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon I  preached  in  Billerica,  |  December  11,  1783,  |  the  day  recom- 
mended by  Congress  |  to  |  all  the  States,  |  to  be  observed  as  a  day  of  | 
Public  Thanksgiving,  |  and  |  appointed  to  be  observed  accordingly, 
throughout  |  the  |  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  |  by  the  Author- 
ity of  the  same.  [Psa.  cxxvi.  3.]  Boston  :  .  .  T.  and  J.  Fleet,  1784, 
8°,  pp.  39.— An.    Ath.    C.    Ct.    H.    Y. 

239.  — 1783,  Dec.  11.— George  Duffield,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  A  | 
Sermon  |  preached  in  the  |  Third  Presbyterian  Church  |  in  the  |  City 
of  Philadelphia,  |  on  Thursday  December  11,  1783.  |  The  day  ap- 
pointed by  the  United  States  in  Congress  |  assembled,  to  be  observed 
as  a  day  of  thanksgiving,  for  |  the  restoration  of  peace  ;  and  estab- 
lishment of  our  Li-  I  dependence  in  the  enjoyment  of  our  rights  and 
pri-  I  vileges.  [Isa.  Ixvi.  8.]  (1)  Philadelphia :  .  .  F.  Bailey,  .  .  . 
1784.  8°,  pp.  (2)  viii.  28.— Ath.  (2)  Boston:  .  .  T.  &  J.  Fleet, 
1784.  8°,  pp.  26.  —  An.  Ath.  H.  L.  M.  (3)  Reprinted  in  the 
*'  Patriot  Preachers  of  the  American  Revolution,"  1860. 

240.  — 1783,  Dec.  11.  —  Israel  Evans,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  A  |  Dis- 
course, I  delivered  in  |  New- York,  |  before  a  Brigade  of  Continental 
Troops,  and  a  Num-  |  ber  of  Citizens,  assembled  in  |  St.  George's 
Chapel,  I  on  the  11th  of  December,  1783.  |  The  Day  set  apart  by  the 
recommendation  of  |  the  United  States  in  Congress,  |  as  a  day  of  pub- 
lic Thanksgiving  for  the  Blessings  of  |  Independence,  Liberty  and 
Peace.  [Ex.  xv.  1.]  New  York  :  .  .  .  .  John  Holt,  n.  d.  8°,  pp. 
23.  — Ath.    H. 

241.  — 1783,  Dec.  11.  — Johann  Christoph  Kunze,   Philadelphia, 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  553 

Pa.  Eine  |  Aiifforderung'  |  an  das  |  Volk  Gottes  in  America  |  zum  | 
frohen  Jauchzen  und  Danken.  |  An  dem  von  eineni  Erlauchten 
Congres  wegen  erhaltenen  Fiiedens  und  |  erlangter  Unabhangigkeit 
auf  den  11  ten  December,  1783,  aus-  |  geschriebenen  Dankfeste  in  der 
Zions-Kircbe  zu  Pbiladelphia  |  vorgestellt  und  auf  Verlangen  ver- 
schriedener  |  Zuborer  dem  Druk  iibergeben,  |  nebst  dem  |  Anhange 
einer  andern  Presdigt  |  aulichen  Inhalts,  und  an  dem  Dank-  und  Bet- 
tage  I  des  Yares  1779  gebalten.  .  .  .  Pbiladelphia :  .  .  Melchior 
Steiner,  .  .  .  1784.     8°,  pp.  101.  — H. 

242.  — 1783,    Dec.  11. —John  Marsh,   Wethersfield,    Conn.     A| 
Discourse  |  delivered  at  Wethersfield,  |  December  11th,  1783.  |  Being 
a  day  of  |  Public  Thanksgiving,   throughout   the   United  States   of 
America.     [Psa.   cxlvii.  12-14.]    Hartford:  .  .  Hudson  &  Goodwin, 
n.  d.     8^pp.22.— Ath.     C.     Ct.     L.    M.     U.     Y. 

243.  — 1783,  Dec.  11.  —  John  Murray,  Newburyport,  Mass.  Jerub- 
baal,  I  or  |  Tyranny's  Grove  Destroyed,  |  and  the  |  Altar  of  Liberty 
Finished.  |  A  |  Discourse  |  on  |  America's  Duty  and  Danger,  |  Deliv- 
ered at   the  I  Presbyterian  Church  in  Newburyport,  |  December  11, 

1783,  I  on  occasion  of  the  |  Public  Thanksgiving  |  for  |  Peace.  [Judg. 
viii.  34,  35.]  (1)  Newburyport:  .  .  John  Mycall,  1784.  8°,  pp.  75. 
—  An.  Ath.  C.  (2)  Newburyport:  .  .  Edmund  M.  Blunt,  1801. 
8°,  pp.  70.  —  An.     Ath.    M. 

244.  — 1783,  Dec.  11.  —  David  Osgood,  Medford  Mass.  Reflections 
on  the  goodness  of  God  |  in  supporting  the  People  of  the  |  United 
States  through  the  late  war,  |  and  giving  them  so  advantageous  |  and 
honourable  a  peace.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  preached  |  on  the  |  day  of  annual 
and  national  |  Thanksgiving  |  December  11,  1783.  [Psa.  Ixv.  11.] 
Boston :  .  .  T.  and  J.  Fleet,  1774.  8°,  pp.  35.  —  An.  Ath.  C.  L. 
M.    Y. 

245.  —  1783,  Dec.  11.  —  Eliphalet  Porter,  Roxbury,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  delivered  to  the  |  First  Religious  |  Society  in  Roxbury,  |  De- 
cember 11,  1783;  I  being  the  first  day  of  |  Public  Thanksgiving,  |  in 
America,  |  after  the  restoration  of  Peace,  and  the  |  ultimate  acknow- 
ledgment of  her  I  Independence.  [Psa.  cxxiv.]  Boston  :  .  .  Adams 
and  Nourse,  1784.  8°,  pp.  24.  —  An.  Ath.  Bo.  C.  Ct.  L.  M. 
U.    Y. 

246.  — 1783,  Dec.  11.— John  Rodgers,  New  York,  N.  Y.  The 
Divine  Goodness  displayed,  |  in  the  |  American  Revolution :  |  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  preached  in  New- York,  December  11th,  1783.  |  Appointed  by 
Congress,  |  as  a  day  of  |  Public  Thanksgiving,  |  throughout  the 
United  States.     [Psa.  cxxvi.  3.]     (1)  New-York:  .  .  Samuel  Loudon, 

1784.  8°,  pp.  42.  — Ct.  L.  M.  Y.  (2)  Reprinted  in  "Patriot 
Preachers  of  the  American  Revolution,"  1860. 

247.  —  1783,  Dec.  11.  —Benjamin  Trumbull,  North  Haven,  Conn. 
God  is  to  be  praised  for  the  Glory  of  his  |  Majesty,  and  for  his  mighty 


654        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

Works.  I  A  I  Sermon  |  delivered  at  North-Haven,  |  December  11, 
1783.  I  The  day  appointed  by  the  United-States  |  for  a  |  General 
Thanksgiving  |  on  |  Account  of  the  Peace  |  concluded  with  Great- 
Britain.  [Psa.  cl.  2.]  (1)  New -Haven :  .  .  Thomas  and  Samuel 
Green,  n84.  8°,  pp.  38.  —  Ath.  Ct.  H.  L.  M.  U.  Y.  (2)  New- 
Haven  :  .  .  Thomas  and  Samuel  Green,  n.  d.  8°,  pp.  28.  —  An. 
Ath.    Ct.    L.     U.    Y. 

248.  — 1783,  Dec.  11.  — Joseph  Willard,  [Har.  Coll.]  Cambridge, 
Mass.  A  I  Thanksgiving  |  Sermon  |  delivered  at  Boston  |  December 
11,  1783,  I  to  I  the  Religious  Society  |  in  Brattle  Street,  |  under  the 
pastoral  care  |  of  |  the  Rev.  Samuel  Cooper,  D.  D.  [Psa.  cxviii.  27.] 
Boston:  .  .  T.  and  J.  Fleet,  1784.  8°,  pp.  39.  — An.  Ath.  Bo.  C. 
H.    L.    M.     U.    Y. 

249.  —  1784,  Nov.  25.  —  John  Lathrop,  Boston,  Mass.  A  |  Dis- 
course I  on  the  I  Peace ;  |  preached  on  the  day  of  |  Public  Thanks- 
giving, I  November  25,  1784.  [Isa.  xl.  2.]  Boston  :  .  .  Peter 
Edes,  .  .  .  1784.     8°,  pp.  35.  —  An.     Ath.    M.    Y. 

250.  — 1784,  Dec.  2.  — Nathaniel  Noyes,  South-Hampton,  N.  H. 
A  I  Sermon  |  preached    at  |  South-Hampton  |  December    2,    1784.  | 
Being    the   day  appointed   for   a   Thanksgiving  through-  |  out  the 
State    of    New-Hampshire.      [Psa.    Ixv.    1-13.]     Newburyport:  .  . 
John  Mycall,  1785.     8°,  pp.  23.  —  Ath.     0. 

251.  — 1784,  Dec.  2.  —  William  Patten,  Newport,  R.  I.     Directions 
with  regard  to  the  improvement  |  of  temporal  blessings.  |  A  |  Thanks- 
giving Sermon,  |  delivered  to  the  |  First  Society  in  New  London,  | 
December   2^    1784.     [Ecc.   ix.   7.]      New    London:  .  .  T.    Green, 
n.  d.    8°,  pp.  22.  — Ct.     L.     U.    Y. 

252.  — 1785,  Apr.  7.  — Samuel  West,  Needham,  Mass.     Two  |  Dis- 
courses I  delivered  |  at   Needham,  |  First   Parish :  |  on   occasion  of  | 
the  Public  Fast,  |  April  7,   1785.     [Isa.  Iviii.  6.]     Boston :  .  .   Ben- 
jamin Edes  and  Son,  .  .  .  1785.     8°,  pp.  39.  —  Ath.     C.     H.     Y. 

253.-1785,   Dec.    15.  — William   Hazlitt,    Hallowell,   Me.     A| 
Thanksgiving  |  Discourse,  |  preached  |  at  |  Hallowell,  |  15  December, 
1785.     [Psa.  cvii.  8.]     Boston:  ....  Samuel  Hall,  .  .  .  1786.     8^, 
pp.  19.— An.     Ath.     Bo.    M.     Y. 

254.-1786,  Oct.  29.  — William  White,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  A  | 
Sermon,  |  on  the  Due  Celebration .  |  of  the  |  Festival,  |  appointed  as  a 
Thanksgiving  |  for  the  Fruits  of  the  Earth ;  |  preached  in  |  Christ- 
Church  and  St  Peter's,  |  by  .  .  .  October  29,  1786,  |  the  day  preced- 
ing his  Departure  for  England,  to  obtain  |  Episcopal  Consecration. 
[Deut.  viii.  10.]  Philadelphia :  .  .  Hall  and  Sellers,  1786.  8°,  pp. 
18.— Y. 

255.  — 1786,  Dec.  14. —Joseph  Lathrop,  West  Springfield,  Mass. 
A  I  Sermon,  |  preached  in  the  |  First  Parish  in  West-Springfield,  | 
December   14.   MDCCLXXXVI,  |  being  the  day  appointed  by  Au- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY,  555 

thority  for  a  |  Publick    Thanksgiving".      [Isa.    i.    19,  20.]  .  .  John 
BusseU,  .  .  .  Springfield,  1787.     8°,  pp.  24.  — Bo.      H.     U. 

256.  — 1788,  Apr.  17.  —  Charles  Backus,  Somers,  Conn.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  preached  in  |  Long-Meadow,  |  at  the  |  Publick  Fast,  |  April 
17th,  MDCCLXXXVIII.  [Ecc.  vii.  10.]  Springfield :  .  .  Weld 
«fe  Thomas,  .  .  .  1788.  *  8°,  pp.  24.  —  C.     Ct.     L.     N.  H. 

257.  — 1788,  Aug.  14.  —  John  Tucker,  Newbury,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  delivered  at  |  Newbury-Port,  |  August  14'^  1788,  |  on  a  |  day 
set  apart  |  by  the  |  First  Church  there  |  to  seek  the  |  Divine  direction 
and  blessing  |  in  the  choice  and  |  Settlement  of  a  Colleague-Pastor  | 
with  the  I  Rev  Thomas  Cary.  [Psa.  cxxxiii.  1.]  Newburyport:  .  . 
John  MycaU,  1788.     8°,  pp.  52.  —  An.     L.     M.     Y. 

258.  — 1789,  Nov.  26.  — Oliver  Hart,  Hopewell,  N.  J.     America's 
Remembrancer,  |  with  respect  to  her  |  Blessedness  and  Duty.  |  A  | 
Sermon,  |  delivered  in  Hopewell,  |  New   Jersey,  |  on   Thanksgiving 
Day,  I  November  26,   1789.      [Num.   xxiii.  23.]      Philadelphia :  .  . 
T.  Dobson,  .  .  .  1791.    8°,  pp.  24.  — Ath.     C.    Y. 

258  a.  — 1789,  Nov.  26.  —  Gershom  Seixas,  New  York,  N.  Y.  A 
Religious  Discourse  delivered  in  the  Synagogue  in  this  City  .  .  .  Nov. 
26,  1789,  agreeable  to  the  Proclamation  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  &c,  to  be  observed  as  a  Day  of  Public  Thanksgiving  and 
Prayer.     New  York :  McLean,  1789.     8°,  pp.  16.  —  Sabin,  No.  78950. 

259.  —  [1792,  Nov.  22.]  —  Bunker  Gay,  Hinsdale,  N.  H.  To  Sing 
of  Mercy  and  Judgment :  |  Recommended  and  Exemplified  |  in  a  | 
Discourse,  |  delivered  on  a  day  of  |  Publick  Thanksgiving.  [Psa.  ci. 
1.]  [Half  title  —  Mr.  Gay's  Reflections  on  the  Thanksgiving  next 
after  the  death  of  his  wife.]  Printed  Greenfield,  Mass.,  by  Thomas 
Dickman,  1793.     8°,  pp.  19.  —  L. 

260.-1792,  Nov.  29.  —  Frederick  William  Hotchkiss,  Saybrook, 
Conn.  On  National  Greatness,  |  A  |  Thanksgiving  Sermon,  |  deliv- 
ered to  the  I  First  Society  |  in  |  Say-Brook,  |  November  29th,  1792. 
[Deut.  iv.  7-9.]  New-Haven :  .  .  Thomas  and  Samuel  Green,  1793. 
8°,pp.  23.  — L.     N.  H.     U. 

261.  —  1793,  Apr.  11.  —  Joseph  McKeen,  Beverly,  Mass.     A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  preached  on  the  |  Public  Fast  |  in  the  |  Commonwealth  |  of  | 
Massachusetts,  |  April  11,  1793.     [Psa.  li.  18.]     Salem:  .  .  Thomas 
C.  Gushing,  ...  1793.     8°,  pp.  22.  —  An.    Ath.     H.     L.     U.    Y. 

262.  —  1793,  Apr.  11.  —  David  Tappan,  [Har.  Coll.]  Cambridge, 
Mass.  A  I  Sermon,  |  delivered  |  to  the  First  Congregation  |  in  | 
Cambridge,  |  and  )  the  Religious  Society  |  in  |  Charlestown,  |  April 
11,  1793.  I  On  occasion  of  the  Annual  Fast  |  in  |  the  Commonwealth 
of  I  Massachusetts.  [Deut.  xxxii.  4,  5.]  Boston :  .  .  Samuel  Hall, 
...1793.    8°,  pp.  31.  — An.     Bo.     C.    H.     L.    U.    Y. 

263.-1793,  Apr.  17.  —Nathan  WiUiams,  ToUand,  Conn.  Order 
and  Harmony  in  the  Churches  of  [  Christ,  agreeable  to  God's  Will.  | 


556         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

Illustrated  in  a  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  in  Tolland,  |  on  the  |  Public 
Fast,  I  April  17tli,  1793.  [1  Cor.  xiv.  38.]  Hartford  :  .  .  Hudson  and 
Goodwin,  1793.  8°,  pp.  31.  — Ath.  C.  Ct.  L.  U.  [Strictures  on 
the  above  sermon  were  published  by  George  Roberts,  Presiding  Elder 
of  the  Methodist  Church.     See  Brinley  Cat.  No.  6269.] 

264.  — 1793,  Sept.  20.  — John  Mitchell  Mason,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
A  I  Sermon,  |  preached  September  20th,  1793  ;  |  a  day  set  apart,  |  in 
the  I  City  of  New- York,  |  for  Public  Fasting,  Humiliation  |  and  j 
Prayer,  |  on  account  of  a  |  Malignant  and  Mortal  Fever  |  prevailing  in 
the  I  City  of  Philadelphia.  [Hab.  ii.  3.]  New  York :  .  .  Samuel 
Loudon  &  Son,  1793.     8°,  pp.  64.  — An.     Ath.     C.     L. 

265.-1793,  Nov.  7.  — Joseph  Lyman,  Hatfield,  Mass.  The  Ad- 
ministrations of  Providence  full  of  |  .Goodness  and  Mercy.  |  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  delivered  at  Hatfield,  |  November  7th,  A.  D.  1793.  |  Being  the 
day  of  I  Public  Thanksgiving.  [Psa.  cxxxix,  17, 18.]  Northampton  : 
..  WiUiam  Butler,  1794.     8°,  pp.  22.  —  Ath.     C.     Ct.     M.     U. 

266.  —  1793,  Nov.  7.  —  Samuel  Spring,  Newburyport,  Mass.     A  | 
Discourse,  |  delivered  at  the  |  North  Church  in  Newburyport,  |  No- 
vember 7th,  1793,  I  being  the  day  appointed  for  a  |  General  Thanks- 
giving, I  by  the  authority  of  \.  Massachusetts.     Newburyport :  .  .  .  . 
John  Mycall,  1794.     8°,  pp.  40.  —  C. 

267.  —  1793,  Dec.  12.  —  Thomas  Dunn,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  E<iuality 
of  Rich  and  Poor :  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  preached  in  the  |  Prison  of  Phila- 
delphia, I  on  Thursday,  December  12th,  1793.  |  Being  the  day  ap- 
pointed for  humiliation  and  |  thanksgiving,  on  the  ceasing  of  the  | 
late  epidemical  fever.  [Prov.  xxii.  2.]  Philadelphia:  .  .  Thomas 
Dobson,  .  .  .  1793.     8%  pp.  24.  —  An. 

268.— 1793,  Dec.  12. —William  Smith,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  [A 
Sermon]  Preached,  December  12,  1793,  |  Appointed  as  a  |  Day  of 
General  Humiliation,  Thanksgiving  |  and  Prayer,  |  for  |  Our  Deliv- 
erance from  the  Rage  of  the  |  Grievous  Calamity,  |  commonly  called  | 
the  Yellow  Fever.  [Psa.  Ixxviii.  34-50.]  Philadelphia:  .  .  Hugh 
MaxweU  and  William  Fry,  1803.     8°.     Works,  i.  76-104. 

269.  —  1794,  Apr.  17.  —Joseph  Roby,  [Saugus]  Lynn,  Mass.     A  | 
Sermon,  |  delivered   at    Lynn,  |  on    the  |  General    Fast,  |  April    17, 
1794.     [Psa.  cxix.  121.]     Portland :  .  .  Thomas  Baker  Wait,  n.  d. 
8°,pp.  31.  —  An.     H.     M. 

270.  — 1794,  May  22.  —  Ezra  Weld,  Braintree,  Mass.  A  |  Sermon,  | 
on  I  Christian  Union;  |  delivered  in  Wrentham,  May  22,  1794,  |  at 
a  I  Public  Fast,  |  appointed  by  the  Church  and  Pastor,  |  on  account  of 
their  Ecclesiastical  Difficulties ;  |  and  printed  by  their  mutual  desire. 
[1  Cor.  i.  13.]  Boston :  .  .  E.  W.  Weld  and  W.  Greenough,  1794. 
8°,pp.  iv,  5-30.— An.    Ath.     C.     Ct.    H.    N.  H.    Y. 

271.  — 1794,  Nov.  20.  —  John  Eliot,  Boston,  Mass.  A  |  Sermon,  | 
delivered  |  on  the  day  |  of  |  Annual   Thanksgiving,  |  November  20, 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  557 

1794.     [Psa.   xcvii.  1.]     Printed  by  Samuel  Hall,  .  .  Boston,  1794. 
8°,  pp.  26.  — An.    Ath.    Bo.     C.     Ct.    L.    M.    U.    Y. 

272.  — 1794,  Nov.  20.  —  John  Lathrop,  Boston,  Mass.  Extracts 
from  his  thanksgiving  sermon  in  the  Boston  Independent  Chronicle, 
Nov.  24,  1794. 

273.  —  1794,  Nov.  20.  — John  Mellen,  Barnstable,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  delivered  at  |  Barnstable,  |  East  Precinct,  |  on  the  Annual 
Thanksgiving,  |  November  20,  1794.  [Psa.  Ixxvii.  10-12.]  Boston : 
..  Samuel  Hall,  ...  1794.     8°,  pp.  21. —An.     Ath.     C.     M. 

274.-1794,  Nov.  20.  — David  Osgood,  Medford,  Mass.  The 
Wonderful  Works  of  God  |  are  to  be  remembered.  |  A  |  Sermon,  | 
delivered  |  on  the  day  |  of  |  Annual  Thanksgiving,  |  November  20, 
1794.  [Psa.  cxi.  4.]  *  (1)  .  .  Samuel  Hall,  .  .  .  Boston,  1794.  8°, 
pp.  29.  — An.  Ath.  Bo.  C.  Ct.  H.  (2)  Same.  — An.  Ath.  C. 
Ct.  H.  L.  Y.  (3)  Same.  1795.  8°,  pp.  29.  — An.  Ath.  H.  L. 
M.  U.  Y.  (4)  .  .  Blunt  &  March,  .  .  .  Newburyport,  1795.  8°, 
pp.24. — An.  L.  (5)  Albany:  .  .  Charles  R.  and  George  Webster, 
.  .  .  1795.  8°,  pp.  24.  —  An.  (6)  .  .  .  Stockbridge  :  By  Loring 
Andrews,  1795.     8°,  pp.  30.  —  C.     Ct.     L. 

275.  — 1794,  Nov.  20.  —  Samuel  Stillman,  Boston,  Mass.  Thoughts 
on  the  French  Revolution.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  |  November  20, 
1794  :  I  being  |  the  day  of  |  Annual  Thanksgiving.  [Matt.  xxiv.  6-8.] 
Boston :  .  .  Manning  &  Loring,  1795.  8°,  pp.  27.  —  An.  Ath.  L. 
M.     U.     Y. 

276.  —  1794,  Nov.  20.  —  Thomas  Gushing  Thacher,  Lynn,  Mass. 
A  I  Sermon,  |  preached  at  |  Lynn,  |  November  20th,  1794 :  |  being 
the  day  appointed  |  for  the  |  Annual  Thanksgiving.  [Psa.  Ixv.  11.] 
Boston:  .  .  Thomas  HaU,  1794.     8°,  pp.  24.— An.     Ath.     C.     M. 

277.  — 1794,  Nov.  27.  —  Henry  Channing,  New  London,  Conn. 
The  Consideration  of  divine  Goodness  an  argument  |  for  religious 
gratitude  and  obedience.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  at  New-London,  | 
Nov.  27,  1794.  I  Being  the  day  appointed  by  Authority,  |  for  Public 
Thanksgiving  I  in  the  State  of  Connecticut.  [1  Sam.  xii.  24.]  New 
Loudon:  .  .  Samuel  Green,  1794.  8°,  pp.  24.  —  Ath.  C.  Ct.  L. 
U.    Y. 

278.  — 1794,  Nov.  27.  —  Amzi  Lewis,  North  Stamford,  Conn.     The 
Duty  of  Praising  God  for  |  His  Mercy  and  Judgment.  |  A  |  Sermon,  | 
delivered  (for  substance)  at  |  North  Stamford,  |  November  27,  1794,  | 
being  a  day  of  |  Public  Thanksgiving.  .  .  .  [Psa.  ci.  1.]    Danbury : 
.  .  N.  Douglas,  1795.     8°,  pp.  30.  —  Ct.    U. 

279.  — 1795,   Jan.  6.  —  Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  [Coll.  of  N.  J.] 
Princeton,  N.  J.     A  |  Discourse  |  on  the  |  Nature  and  Reasonableness 
of  Fasting,  |  and  on  |  the  existing  Causes  that  call  us  to  that  Duty.  | 
Delivered  at  Princeton,  on  Tuesday  the  6th  January,   1795.  |  Being 
the  Day  appointed  |  by  the  |  Synod  of  New-York  and  New-Jersey, 


558         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

to  be  observed  as  a  General  Fast,  |  by  all  the  Churches  of  their  Com- 
munion in  those  |  Stages ;  and  now  published  |  in  compliance  with  the 
request  |  of  the  |  Students  of  Theology  and  Law  in  Princeton.  [Joel 
ii.  12,  13.]  Philadelphia:  .  .  WilUam  Young,  .  .  .  1795.  8°,  pp. 
31.  — Ath.    C.    H.    L.    Y. 

280.  — 1795,  Feb.  19.  —John  Andrews,  Newburyport,  Mass.     A  | 
Sermon,  |  delivered   February    19,    1795,  |  being   a   day  |  of  |  Public 
Thanksgiving,  |  throughout  the  |  United  States  of  America.     [Prov. 
xvi.  7.]     Printed  at  Newburyport  by  Blunt  &  March,  n.  d.     8°,  pp.  22. 
—  An.    Ath.    C.    Ct.    H.    M.    U.    Y. 

281.  — 1795,  Feb.  19.  —  Thomas  Baldwin,  Boston,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  February  19,  1795 :  |  being  |  the  day  of  |  Public  Thanksgiv- 
ing I  throughout  the  United  States.  [Psa.  xxxiii.  12.]  Boston : 
.  .  Manning  &  Loring,  1795.  8°,  pp.  24.  — An.  Ath.  C.  H.  L. 
M.    Y. 

282.  —  1795,  Feb.  19.  —  Thomas  Barnard,  Salem,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  delivered  |  on  the  day  |  of  |  National  Thanksgiving,  |  February 
19, 1795.  [Isa.  v.  3-7.]  Printed  by  Thomas  C.  Cushing,  .  .  .  Salem, 
1795.    8°,  pp.  25.  — An.    Ath.     C.    H.    L.    M.    Y. 

283.-1795,   Feb.  19.— John  Bracken,  Williamsburg,  Va.     The 
duty  of  giving   thanks   for  |   National   Blessings.   |  A   |  Sermon,  | 
preached   in  |  the    Parish   Church   of    Bruton,  |  Williamsburg ;  |  on 
Thursday  February  19th,  1795.     [Psa.    cvii.    1,  2.]     Richmond:  .  . 
Thomas  Nicolson,  1795.    8°,  pp.  26.  —  M. 

284.  —  1795,  Feb.  19.  —  Ebenezer  Bradford,  Rowley,  Mass.  The 
Nature  and  Manner  of  giving  |  Thanks  to  God,  Illustrated.  |  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  delivered  |  on  the  day  |  of  the  |  National  Thanksgiving  |  Feb- 
ruary 19,  1795.  [Eph.  V.  20.]  Boston:  From  the  Chronicle-Press, 
by  Adams  &  Larkin,  1795.     8°,  pp.  23.  —An.     Ath.     H.     L.     M. 

285.  — 1795,  Feb.  19.— Pitt  Clark,  Norton,  Mass.  On  the  Rise 
and  signalized  Lot  of  the  |  United  Americans.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  de- 
livered, February  19,  M,DCC,XCV,  |  on  occasion  of  a  Thanksgiving 
throughout  the  |  United  States,  |  to  the  |  Congregational  Society,  | 
in  I  Norton.  [1  Sam.  vii.  12.]  Boston :  .  .  Samuel  Hall,  .  .  . 
1795.    8°,  pp.  30.  —  An.     C.    H.    L.    M. 

286.  — 1795,  Feb.  19.  —  Joseph  Dana,  Ipswich,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  delivered  February  19,  1795,  |  being  a  day  |  of  |  General 
Thanksgiving,  |  throughout  the  |  United  States  of  America.  [Deut. 
xxxiii.  29.]  Newburyport:  .  .  Blunt  and  March,  .  .  .  1795.  8°, 
pp.  26.  — An.    Ath.     C.     H.     L.    U.    Y. 

287.-1795,  Feb.  19.  —  Samuel  Deane,  [Falmouth]  Portland,  Me. 
A  I  Sermon,  |  preached  |  February    19th,    1795.  |  Being   a   day   of  | 
National    Thanksgiving,  |  appointed    by  |  the    President  |  of    the  | 
United  States.     [Psa.  1.  14.]     Portland :  .  .  Thomas  B.  Wait,  1795. 
8°,  pp.  20.      An.    Ath.    Bo.    M. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  559 

288.  —  1795,  Feb.  19.  —  Thaddeus  Fiske,  Cambridge,  Mass. 
Thanksgiving  and  Prayer  for  Public  |  Rulers,  |  recommended  in  a  | 
Discourse,  |  delivered  at  the  |  Second  Parish,  in  Cambridge,  |  Febru- 
ary 19,  1795,  I  being  the  day  of  National  Thanks-  |  giving  in  the 
United  States.  [1  Tim.  ii.  1,  2.]  Printed  at  Boston,  1795.  8°,  pp. 
20.  — An.    Ath.     C.    M.    Y. 

289.  —  1795,  Feb.  19.  —  Levi  Frisbie,  Ipswich,  Mass.  A  |  Sermon  | 
delivered  February  19,  1795,  |  the  day  |  of  |  Public  Thanksgiving  | 
through  the  |  United  States.  |  Recommended  by  the  President.     [Psa. 
c.  3,  4.]     Newburyport :  .  .  Blunt  and  March,  n.    d.     8°,   pp.  28.  — 
An.     Ath.     U.     Y. 

290.— 1795,  Feb.  19.  —  Ashbel  Green,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  A| 
Sermon,  |  delivered  in  the  |  Second  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  City 
of  I  Philadelphia,  |  on  the  19th  of  February,  1795,  |  being  the  day  of 
General  Thanksgiving  |  throughout  the  United  States.  [Psa.  evii.  21, 
22.]  Philadelphia:  .  .  John  Fenno,  .  .  .  1795.  8°,  pp.  48.— An. 
Ath.    L.    M.    Y. 

291.  — 1795,  Feb.  19.  —  Abiel  Holmes,  Cambridge,  Mass.  A  | 
Sermon,  |  on  the  |  Freedom  and  Happiness  |  of  |  America ;  |  preached 
at  Cambridge,  |  February  19,  1795,  |  the  day  appointed  |  by  the  |- 
President  of  the  United  States  |  for  a  |  National  Thanksgiving. 
[Deut.  xxxiii.  29.]  Printed  by  Samuel  Hall,  .  .  .  Boston,  1795.  8°, 
pp.  31.  — An.    Ath.     C.    Ct.     H.    L.    M.    U.    Y. 

292.-1795,  Feb.  19.  —  Samuel  Kendal,  Weston,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  delivered  |  on  the  day  |  of  |  National  Thanksgiving,  |  Feb- 
ruary 19,  1795.  [Psa.  cxliv.  15.]  Printed  by  Samuel  Hall,  .  .  . 
Boston,  1795.     8°,  pp.  31.  — An.     Ath.     C.     Ct.     H.     L.    M.     Y. 

293.  — 1795,  Feb.  19.  —  Joseph  Lathrop,  West  Springfield,  Mass. 
National  Happiness,  |  illustrated  in  a  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  at  |  West- 
Springfield,  I  on  the  nineteenth  of  February,  1795.  |  Being  a  day  of  | 
General   Thanksgiving.      [Psa.  Ixvii.  1,  2.]      Springfield:  .  .  J.  W. 
Hooker  and  F.  Stebbins,  1795.     8°,  pp.  20.  —An.     Ct.     U.     Y. 

294.  —  1795,  Feb.  19.  — James  Madison,  Williamsburg,  Va.  Man- 
ifestations I  of  the  I  Beneficence  of  Divine  |  Providence  |  towards 
America.  |  A  |  Discourse,  |  delivered  on  Thursday  the  19th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1795,  I  being  the  day  recommended  by  the  Presi-  |  dent  of  the 
United  States,  for  gene-  |  ral  Thanksgiving  and  Prayer.  [1  Sam.  xii. 
24.]     Richmond:  .  .  Thomas  Nicolson,  1795.     8°,  pp.  23.  — M. 

295.  —  1795,  Feb.  19.  —  John  Mitchell  Mason,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Mercy  Remembered  in  Wrath.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  the  substance  of  which 
was  preached  on  |  the  19th  of  February,  1795,  |  observed  throughout 
the  United  |  States,  |  as  a  day  |  of  Thanksgiving  and  Prayer.  [Psa. 
ciii.  10.]  New  York:  .  .  J.  Buel,  1795.  8°,  pp.  33.  — Ath.  C 
Ct.    L.    Y. 

296.  —  1795,   Feb.  19.  —  Samuel   Eusebius   McCorkle,  Salisbury, 


560         FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

N.  C.  A  I  Sermon,  |  on  the  |  Comparative  Happiness  and  Duty  |  of 
the  I  United  States  of  America,  |  Contrasted  with  other  Nations,  par- 
ticularly the  I  Israelites.  |  Delivered  in  Salisbury,  on  Wednesday, 
Fe-  I  bruary  18th ;  and  a't  Thyatira,  on  Thurs-  |  day,  February  19th, 
1795  :  being  the  day  of  |  General  Thanksgiving-  and  Prayer,  ap- 
point- |  ed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States.  [Deut.  iv.  32.]  Hali- 
fax: .  .  Abraham  Hodge,  1795.     8°,  pp.  43.  —  Ath. 

297.  —  1795,  Feb.  19.  —John  McKnight,  New  York,  N.  Y.  The 
Divine  Goodness  |  to  the  |  United  States  of  America,  |  particularly  in 
the  course  of  the  last  year.  |  A  |  Thanksgiving  Sermon,  |  preached  in 
New- York,  February  19,  1795.  [Psa.  Ixv.  11.]  New-York:  .  . 
Thomas  Greenleaf,  1795.     8°,  pp.  28  (3).  — An.     C.     Ct.     L.     U. 

298.— 1795,  Feb.  19. —John  Mellen,  Hanover,  Mass.  The  | 
Great  and  Happy  Doctrine  |  of  |  Liberty.  |  A  |  Discourse,  |  deliv- 
ered I  at  Hanover,  |  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  |  February  19, 
1795.  I  On  the  day  |  of  |  Public  Thanksgiving  and  Prayer,  |  appointed 
by  I  the  President,  |  to  be  observed  throughout  all  |  the  United  States 
of  America,  [John  viii.  36.]  Boston:  .  .  Samuel  Hall,  1795.  8°, 
pp.  34.  — An.    Ath.    C.    H.     L.    M.    Y. 

299.—  1795,  Feb.  19.  —  Jedidiah  Morse,  Charlestown,  Mass.  The 
present  Situation  of  other  Nations  of  |  the  World,  |  contrasted  with 
our  own.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  |  at  Charlestown,  |  in  the  i  Com- 
monwealth of  Massachusetts,  |  February  19,  1795 ;  |  being  the  day 
recommended  by  |  George  Washington,  |  President  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  |  for  Publick  Thanksgiving  |  and  |  Prayer.  [Deut. 
iv.  6,  8,  9.]     Printed  by  Samuel  Hall,  .  .  .  Boston,  1795.     8°,  pp.  37. 

—  An.    Ath.    C.    Ct.    H.    L.    M.    U. 

300.-1795,  Feb.  19.  —John  Murray,  Boston,  Mass.  The  |  Sub- 
stance I  of  a  I  Thanksgiving  Sermon,  |  delivered  at  the  Universalist 
Meeting-house,  |  in  Boston,  February  19,  1795.  [Psa.  Ixix.  5.] 
Boston :  .  .  .  .  John  W.  Folsom,  .  .  .  1795.  8°,  pp.  32.  — An.  Ath. 
C.    M. 

301.  — 1795,  Feb.  19.  — David  Osgood,  Medford,  Mass.  A  |  Dis- 
course, I  delivered  |  February  19,  1795  :  |  the  day  set  apart  by  the  | 
President,  |  for  a  |  General  Thanksgiving  ]  through  the  United  States. 
[Psa.  cxlvii.20.]  (1)  Boston:  .  .  Samuel  Hall,  1795.  8°,  pp.  30.— 
An.  Ath.  Bo.  C.  Ct.  H.  L.  M.  Y.  (2)  Litchfield  (Connect- 
icut) Re-Printed  by  Collier  and  Buel,  n.  d.     12°,  pp.  24.  —  Ct.     Y. 

302.  — 1795,  Feb.  19.  —  Hezekiah  Packard,  Chelmsford,  Mass.  The 
plea  of  patriotism.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  preached  in  |  Chelmsford,  |  on 
the  day  of  |  General  Thanksgiving,  |  February  19,  1795.  [2  Chron. 
XX.  30.]      Boston:  .  .  William    Greenough,  .  .  .  1795.     8°,  pp.  24. 

—  An.    Ath.    C.    H.    Y. 

303.  — 1795,   Feb.    19.  —  Ezra   Sampson,    Plympton,   Mass.     A  | 
Discourse  |  delivered  |  February  19,   1795 ;  |  being  |  the  day  of  |  Na- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  561 

tional  Thanksg-iving.     [Deut.  xxxii.     7-12.]     Boston :   .  .  .  .  Samuel 
Hall.  n.  d.     8°,  pp.  21.  — An.     C.     L.     M. 

304.  — 1795,  Feb.  19.  — Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  [Coll.  of  N.  J.] 
Princeton,  N.  J.  The  Divine  Goodness  |  to  the  |  United  States  of 
America.  |  A  |  Discourse,  |  on  the  |  Subjects  of  National  Gratitude,  | 
delivered  in  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church  in  Philadelphia,  |  on 
Thursday  the  19th  of  February,  1795,  |  recommended  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  |  to  be  observed  throughout  the  Union  as  a 
day  of  I  General  Thanksgiving  and  Prayer.  |  .  .  .  [Psa.  cvii.  21.]  (1) 
Philadelphia :  .  .  WiUiam  Young,  .  .  .  1795.  8°,  pp.  38  (2).  —  Ath. 
Ct.  L.  U.  Y.  (2)  Same. — L.  [There  were  two  impressions  of 
the  second  edition  with  a  slight  difference  on  the  title-page.] 

305.  — 1795,  Feb.  19.  — Isaac    Story,   Marblehead,  Mass.      A| 
Sermon,  |  preached  February  19,  1795,  |  (From  Ecclesiastes  ix.  18.)  | 
Being  the  |  Federal   Thanksgiving,  |  appointed  by  our  beloved  Presi- 
dent, the  Illus-  I  trious  George  Washington,  Esq.  .  .  Thomas  C.  Cush- 
ing,  .  .  .  Salem,  1795.     8°,  pp.  29.     [With  a  sermon  preached  Feb. 
15,  and  paged  continuously.]  —  An.     Ath.     C.     H.     L.     M.     Y. 

306.  — 1795,  Feb.  19.  —  David  Tappan,  [Har.  Coll.]  Cambridge, 
Mass.  Christian  Thankfulness  |  Explained  and  Enforced.  |  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  delivered  |  at  Charlestown,  |  in  the  afternoon  of  February  19, 
1795.  I  The  day  |  of  |  General  Thanksgiving  |  through  the  United 
States.  [Col.  iii.  15.]  Boston :  .  .  Samuel  Hall,  1795.  8°,  pp.  40. 
—An.    Ath.     C.     Ct.     H.     L.    M.    Y. 

307.  — 1795,   Feb.   19.  — Thomas  Thacher,  Dedhara,  Mass.     A| 
Discourse,  |  delivered  at  the  Third  Parish  |  in  |  Dedham,  |  19th  Feb- 
ruary, 1795.  I  Being   the    day  recommended   |   by   the  |  President  | 
of  the  United  States,  |  for  |  Publick  Thanksgiving.     [Josh.  xxiv.  17.] 
Boston :  .  .  Thomas  Fleet,  jun.,  1795.     8°,  pp.  24.  —  An.     M. 

308.-1795,  Feb.  19. —John  Tyler,  Norwich,  Conn.  The  | 
Blessing  of  Peace ;  |  A  |  Sermon  |  preached  at  Norwich,  |  on  the  | 
Continental  Thanksgiving,  |  February  19,  1795.  [Psa.  xxix.  11.] 
Norwich :   .  .  John  Trumbull,  1795.    8°,  pp.  20.  —  C.     Ct.     M. 

309.  —  1795,  Feb.  19.  —  Benjamin  Wads  worth,  Danvers,  Mass. 
America  invoked  to  praise  the  Lord.  |  A  |  Discourse  |  delivered  |  on 
the  day  |  of  |  Public  Thanksgiving  |  through  the  |  United  States  of 
America,  |  February  19,  1795.  [Psa.  cvii.  31.]  .  .  .  Salem  :  by 
Thomas  C.  Cushing,  1795.     8°,  pp.  31.  — An.     Ath.     C.    H.     L.    M. 

310.  —  1795,  Feb.  19.  —  Henry  Ware,  Hingham,  Mass.  The  Contin- 
uance of  Peace  and  increasing  |  Prosperity  a  Source  of  Consolation  | 
and  just  Cause  of  Gratitude  to  the  |  Inhabitants  of  the  United  States.  | 
A  I  Sermon,  |  delivered  February  19,  1795  ;  |  being  a  day  set  apart  | 
by  I  the  President,  |  for  |  Thanksgiving  and  Prayer  |  through  the  | 
United  States.  [Psa.  cxlvii.  12-14.]  .  .  Samuel  Hall,  .  .  .  Boston, 
1795.    8°,  pp.  31.    An.    C.    H.    L.    M.    U.    Y. 


562         FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

311.— 1795,  Feb.  19.— Samuel  West,  Boston,  Mass.    A  |  Sermon,  | 
delivered  upon   the  late  |  National   Thanksgiving,  |  February    19th, 
1795.     [Dan.  ii.  20,  21.]     Boston :  .  .  Samuel  Etheridge,  .  .  .  1795. 
8°,  pp.  20.— An.    Ath.     H.     L.    M.     U.     Y. 

312.  — 1795,  Feb.  19.  —  William  White,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  A  | 
Sermon,  |  on  the  |  Reciprocal  Influence  |  of  |  Civil  Policy  |  and  |  Re- 
ligious Duty.  I  Delivered  in  |  Christ  Church,  in  the  City  of  Phila- 
delphia, I  on  Thursday,  the  19th  of  February,  1795,  |  being  a  day 
of  General  Thanksgiving.  [Dent,  xxxiii.  27.]  Philadelphia:  .  . 
Ormrod  &  Conrad,  .  .  .  1795.     8°,  pp.  36.  —  An.     Ath.     C.     L. 

313.  —  1795,  Apr.  2.  —  Ebenezer  Bradford,  Rowley,  Mass.  The 
Nature  of  Humiliation,  Fast-  |  ing  and  Prayer  explained.  |  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  delivered  on  the  |  day  of  |  Public  Humiliation  and  Prayer  |  in 
the  I  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  |  April  2,  1795 :  |  with  an  | 
Appendix,  |  in  Answer  to  |  Dr.  Tappan's  remarks  on  his  Thanks-  | 
giving  Sermon,  dated  February  19,  1795.  [Ezra  viii.  23.]  Boston : 
.  .  Adams  &  Larkin,  1795.     8°,  pp.  40.  —  An.    Ath.     C.     H.     L. 

314.  —  1795,  Apr.  2.  —  Nathaniel  Thayer,  Lancaster,  Mass.  A  | 
Sermon,  |  delivered  |  on  the  day  of  |  Fasting,  Humiliation  &  Prayer ;  | 
April  2,  1795.      [Isa.  Iviii.  1.]      Boston :  .  .  Joseph  Belknap,  .  .  . 

1795.  8°,  pp.  20.  — An.    Ath.    H.    Y. 

315.  — 1795,  Nov.  12.  —  Thomas  Worcester,  Salisbury,  N.  H.     A  | 
Thanksgiving  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  |  November  12,  1795.     [Psa.  Ixv. 
11.]     Newburyport:  .  .  John   Mycall,    1796.     8%  pp.  31.  — An.     L. 

316.  —  1795,  Nov.  19.  —  Francis  Gardner,  Leominster,  Mass.     A  | 
Sermon,  |  delivered  |  on    the    day  |  of  |  Annual   Thanksgiving,  |  No- 
vember 19,  1795.     [Psa.  Ixv.  11.]     Leominster:  .  .  Charles  Prentiss, 

1796.  8%pp.  23.  — An.    Atk. 

317.  — 1795,  Nov.  19.  —  Eliphalet  Gillet,  Hallowell,  Me.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  preached  at  |  Hallowell,  |  on  the  day  of  the  |  Anniversary 
Thanksgiving  |  in  the  |  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  |  November 
19,  1795.  [Psa.  xvi.  6.]  Printed  at  Hallowell,  Hook,  by  Wait  and 
Baker,  n.  d.     8°,  pp.  22.  —  C.     U. 

318.-1795,  Nov.  19.  — David  Osgood,  Medford,  Mass.  A  |  Dis- 
course, I  delivered  |  on  the  day  |  of  |  Annual  Thanksgiving,  |  Novem- 
ber 19,  1795.  [Gen.  viii.  22.]  .  .  Samuel  Hall,  .  .  .  Boston,  1795. 
8%pp.  32.  — An.     Ath.     C.     H.    L.    M. 

319.  — 1795,  Nov.  19.  —  Jonathan  Strong,  Randolph,  Mass.     A  | 
Sermon  |  delivered  |  on  the  day  of  |  Annual  Thanksgiving,  |  Novem- 
ber   19,  1795.     [Deut.  xxxii.    15.]     Boston:  .  .  Young    and    Minns, 
n.  d.    8°,  pp.  27.— An.    Ath.    L.    Y. 

320.  — 1795,  Nov.  26.  —  WiUiam  Linn,  New  York,  N.  Y.  A  |  Dis- 
course, I  delivered  on  the  26th  of  November,  1795  ;  |  being  the  day 
recommended  by  the  Governor  of  |  the  State  of  New- York  to  be  ob- 
served  as  a  day  of  |  Thanksgiving  and  Prayer,  |  on  account  of   the 


BIBLIOGRAPHY,  563 

removal  of  an  |  Epidemic  Fever,  |  and  for  other  |  National  Blessings. 
[Psa.  cxvii.]  New  York :  .  .  T.  &  J.  Swords,  .  .  .  1795.  8°,  pp. 
38.  — An.    Ath.     Ct.     L.    M.     Y. 

321.  — 1795,  Dee.  24.  — Walter  King,  Norwich,  Conn.  The  Obli- 
gations of  a  Grateful  Peoj^le  to  |  Speak  the  Praises  of  God  for  His  | 
Abundant  Goodness ;  |  illustrated  |  in  a  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  at  Chel- 
sea, in  Norwich,  |  December  24th  1795.  |  Being  the  day  of  Public  | 
Thanksgiving,  |  and  |  Dedication  |  of  a  |  House  of  Worship,  |  lately- 
built  in  that  place.  [Psa.  cxlv.  7.]  Norwich:  .  .  Thomas  Hub- 
bard, 1796.     8°,  pp.  26.  —  Ct.     L.     U. 

322.  —  1795,  Dec.  31.  —  Bethuel   Dodd,  Whitestown,  N.  Y.     The 
Singular  Goodness  of  God  |  to  America :  |  a  |  Thanksgiving  Sermon ;  | 
delivered  at  Whitestown,  December  |  thirty-first, :M,DCC,XCV.    [Psa. 
cxlvii.  20.]     Whitestown :   .  .  OHver  P.  Easton,  1796.     12°,  pp.  22. 

—  L. 

323. —  1796,  Mar.  2. —Joseph   Buckminster,   Portsmouth,  N.  H. 
Remarks  upon  Paul's  and  Barnabas's  |  dispute  and  separation.  |  A  | 
Discourse  |  delivered  in  |  the  Congregational  Church  &  Society  in  | 
Hampton,  |  March  2d,  1796.  |  A  day  devoted  by  them  to  Fasting  | 
and  Prayer.     [Acts  xv.  39,  40.]     Portsmouth :  .  .  John  Melcher,  .  .  . 

1796.  8°,  pp.  19.  — Ct. 

324.  —  1796,  Mar.  31.  —  Thomas  Barnard,  Salem,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  delivered  at  |  Salem,  |  on  March  31,  1796,  |  the  day  |  of  |  Gen- 
eral Fasting  |  through  the  State  of  |  Massachusetts.  [2  Chron.  xxviii. 
10.]  .  .  .  Newburyport,  by  Blimt  and  March,  .  .  .  n.  d.     8°,  pp.  20. 

—  An.    Ath.     Bo.     Ct.     H.     L.    U.     Y. 

325.-1796,  Nov.  17.  —  Zephaniah  Swift  Moore,  Peterboro,  N.  H. 
A  I  Thanksgiving  Sermon,  |  delivered  |  at  Peterborough,  in  New 
Hampshire,  |  November  17,  1796.  [Psa.  cxlvii.  20.]  Keene:  New 
Hampshire.  .  .  C.  Sturtevant,  Jun.  &>  Co.,  1797.  12°,  pp.  36. — 
C.     Ct. 

326.  — 1796,  Nov.  17.  —  John  Smith,  Salem,  N.  H.     A  |  Sermon,  | 
preached  in  Salem,  |  on  the  |  Anniversary  Thanksgiving,  |  November 
17,  1796.  .  .  .  [Psa.    cxxxvi.  26.]     Amherst :  .  .  .  .  Samuel  Preston, 

1797.  8°,pp.  32.  — An.    C.    N.  H. 

327.  — 1796,  Dec.    15.  —  Samuel  Austin,  Worcester,   Mass.     A  | 
Sermon,  |  delivered  at  |  Worcester,  |  on  the  |  day  of  Public  Thanks- 
giving, I  observed  throughout  the  |  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  | 
December   15th,    MDCCXCVI.     [Judg.   iii.     9-11.]     Worcester:   .  . 
Leonard  Worcester,  1797.     8°,  pp.  24.  —  An.    Ath.    Bo.    C.    H.     M. 
U.    Y. 

328.— 1796,  Dec.  15.— Thomas  Barnard,  Salem,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  delivered  |  on  the  day  |  of  |  Annual  Thanksgiving,  |  December 
15,  1786.  [2  Sam.  vii.  18.]  Printed  by  Thomas  C.  Gushing :  .  .  . 
Salem,  n.d.     8°,  pp.  22.  —  An.     C.     Ct.     H.     U.     Y. 


564  FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING   DAYS. 

329.  — 1796,  Dec.  15.  —  Henry  Cumings,  Billerica,  Mass.  A  | 
Sermon  |  preached  at  |  Billerica,  |  December  15,  1796,  |  being  the  day- 
appointed  I  by  Authority,  |  to  be  observed  throughout  the  |  Common- 
wealth of  Massachusetts,  |  as  a  day  of  |  Public  Praise  |  and  |  Thanks- 
giving. [Psa.  cxliv.  15.]  .  .  Thomas  Fleet,  jun.,  .  .  .  Boston,  1797. 
8°,pp.  35.  — An.    Ath.     C.    H.     L.    M.     Y. 

330.  — 1796,  Dec.  15.  —  Nathaniel  Emmons,  Franklin,  Mass.  Na- 
tional Peace  the  Source  of  |  National  Prosperity.  |  A  Sermon,  | 
delivered  at  |  Franklin,  |  on  the  |  day  of  Annual  Thanksgiving,  |  De- 
cember 15th,  MDCCXCVI.  [1  King's  iv.  25.]  (1)  .  .  Worcester, 
By  Leonard  Worcester,  1797.  8°,  pp.  23.  — An.  Ath.  C.  H.  L. 
U.     (2)  Reprinted  in  Works,  1842. 

331.  — 1796,  Dec.  15.  —  James  Freeman,  Boston,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon I  for  I  December  15,  1796;  |  the  day  of  |  Public  Thanksgiving. 
[1  Thess.  V.  13,  14.]  [Published  Anonymously.]  Boston :  William 
Spotswood,  1796.    8%  pp.  21.  —H.     L.    Y. 

332.  —  1796,  Dec.  15.  —  Alvan   Hyde,  Lee,  Mass.     A  |  Sermon  | 
delivered  at  Lee,  |  December  15th,  1796,  |  being  the  day  appointed  by 
Authori-  |  ty    for    a  |  Public    Thanksgiving.     [Judg.    viii.    34,    35.] 
Stockbridge:  .  .  Rosseter   &   WiUard,   April,    1797.     8°,   pp.  24.— 
An.    Ct.    M. 

333. —  1796,  Dec.  15.  —  Benjamin  Wadsworth,  Danvers,  Mass. 
Social  Thanksgiving  a  Pleasant  Duty.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  preached  |  on 
the  day  |  of  |  Annual  Thanksgiving  |  through  the  |  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts,  |  December  15,  1796.  [Psa.  cxxxvi.  1.]  .  .  Salem, 
By  Thomas  C.  Cushing,  1795.     8°,  pp.  38.  —An.     Ath.     N.  H. 

334.  — 1797,  May  4.  —  Joseph  Lathrop,  West  Springfield,  Mass. 
God's  I  Challenge  to  Infidels  |  to  Defend  their  Cause,  |  illustrated 
and  applied  in  a  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  in  West-Springfield,  |  May  4, 
1797.  I  Being  the  day  of  |  General  Fast.  [Isa.  xli.  21.]  (1)  West 
Springfield:  .  .  Edward  Gray,  n.  d.  12°,  pp.  36.  — An.  Ath.  C. 
Ct.  U.  (2)  Same,  1803.  8°.  — Ath.  ^(3)  Cambridge:  .  .  .  Univer- 
sity Press,  .  .  William  HiUiard,  1803*  8°,  pp.  28.  —  An.  Bo.  H. 
M.     (4)  Same,  1805.     8°,  pp.  24.  —  Ath.     C.     L.     U. 

335.  — 1797,  Nov.  16.  —  Nathan  Strong,  Hartford,  Conn.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  preached  at  the  Annual  |  Thanksgiving,  |  November  16th, 
1797.  [Psa.  cvii.  8.]  Hartford:  .  .  Hudson  &  Goodwin,  1797. 
8°,  pp.  16.  — Ath.    C.    Ct.    L.    U.    Y. 

336.-1798,  Apr.  5.  — David  Tappan,  [Har.  Coll.]  Cambridge, 
Mass.  A  I  Discourse,  |  delivered  to  the  Religious  Society  |  in  | 
Brattle-Street,  Boston,  |  and  |  to  the  Christian  Congregation  |  in  | 
Charlestown,  |  on  April  5,  1798.  |  Being  the  day  of  the  Annual 
Fast  I  in  the  |  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts.  [Prov.  xiv.  34.] 
Boston:  .  .  Samuel  Hall,  .  .  .  1798.  8°,  pp.  31.— An.  Ath.  C. 
Ct.    H.    L.    M.    U.    Y. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY,  565 

337.—  1798,  Apr.  6.  —  Nathan  Strong-,  Hartford,  Conn.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  preached  on  the  |  State  Fast,  |  April  6th,  1798.  [Isa.  xxvi. 
21.]  Hartford :..  Hudson  &  Goodwin,  1798.  8°,  pp.  20.  — C.  Ct. 
M.    U.    Y. 

338. — 1798,  May  9. — James  Abercrombie,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
A  I  Sermon,  |  preached  in  |  Christ  Church  and  St.  Peter's,  |  Phila- 
delphia :  I  on  Wednesday,  May  9th,  1798.  |  Being  the  day  appointed 
by  the  |  President,  |  as  a  day  of  |  Fasting,  Humiliation  and  Prayer,  | 
throughout  the  |  United  States  of  North  America.  [Joel  ii.  15-18.] 
Philadelphia :  .  .  John  Ormrod,  .  .  .  1798.  8°,  pp.  38.  —  An.  Ath. 
H.    L.    M. 

339.  — 1798,  May  9.  —  Samuel  Andrews,  St.  Andrews,  N.  B.  The 
true  Means  to  avert  National  |  Judgments.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  upon  the  | 
Solemn  Fast  ordered  through  the  |  States  of  America,  |  May  9th, 
1798.  I  Delivered  |  at  the  house  of  John  Brewer,  Esq.,  |  in  Robins- 
town,  upon  the  river  Schodick,  |  at  his,  and  the  desire  of  others  of  its 
inhabitants.  Citizens  of  the  |  United  States.  .  .  .  [Ecc.  vii.  4.]  Printed 
at  Boston,  1798.     8°,  pp.  22.  —  B.     Ct. 

340.  — 1798,  May  9. —Jeremy  Belknap,  Boston,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  delivered  on  the  9th  of  May,  1798,  |  the  day  |  of  the  |  Na- 
tional Fast,  I  recommended  |  by  the  President  |  of  the  |  United  States. 
[Dan.  ii.  42,  43.]  .  .  Samuel  Hall,  .  .  .  Boston,  1798.  8°,  pp.  29.  — 
An.     Ath.     Bo.    C.    Ct.     H.    L.    M.     U.     Y. 

341.  — 1798,  May  9.— Samuel  Blair,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  A  |  Dis- 
course I  delivered  in  |  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  |  of  |  Phila- 
delphia, I  on  Wednesday,  May  9th,  1798,  |  Recommended  by  the  | 
President  of  the  United  States  |  to  be  Observed  as  a  Day  of  |  Fasting, 
Humiliation,  and  Prayer,  |  throughout  the  |  United  States  of  North 
America.  [Isa.  i.  5.]  Philadelphia :  Published  by  James  Watters, 
&  Co.,  .  .  .  1798.     8°,  pp.  31.  — Hist.  Soc.  of  Penn. 

342.  — 1798,  May  9.  — Alden  Bradford,  Wiscasset,  Me.  Two  | 
Sermons,  |  delivered  in  |  Wiscasset,  (Pownalborough)  |  on  the  9th  of 
May,  1798,  |  which  |  the  President  of  the  United  States  |  had  pre- 
viously Appointed  to  be  Religiously  |  Observed  as  a  day  of  |  Humilia- 
tion I  and  I  Prayer  |  throughout  the  Union.  [2  Chron.  xx.  1-13.] 
Wiscasset:  .  .  Henry  Hoskins  &  John  W.  Scott,  1798.  8°,  pp.  20. 
—  An.    Ath.     Ct.    M. 

343.-1798,  May  9. —Nathaniel  Emmons,  Franklin,  Mass.  A  | 
Discourse,  |  delivered  May  9,  1798.  |  Being  the  day  of  Fasting  and 
Prayer  |  throughout  the  United  States.  [2  Sam.  xv.  31.]  (1)  .  . 
Wrentham,  Mass.,  by  Nathaniel  and  Benjamin  Heaton,  1798.  8°,  pp. 
28.  —  An.  Ath.  U.  Y.  (2)  Newburyport :  .  .  Angier  March,  n.  d. 
8°,  pp.  24.— Ath.     Bo.     C.     H.     L.     (3)  Reprinted  in  Works,  1842. 

344.  — 1798,  May  9.  — Ashbel  Green,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  Obedi- 
ence I  to  the  I  Law  of  God,  |  the  Sure  and  Indispensable  )  Defence  of 


£66         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  LAYS. 

Nations.  |  A  Discourse,  |  delivered  in  the  |  Second  Presbyterian 
Church,  I  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  |  May  9th,  1798.  [2  Chron. 
XV.  2.]  Philadelphia:  .  .  John  Ormrod,  .  .  .  n.  d.  8°,  pp.  51. — 
An.     C.     L.    M. 

345.  — 1798,  May  9.  —  Thaddeus  Mason  Harris,  Dorchester,  Mass. 
A  I  Sermon  |  preached    in  |  Milton  |  on   the   morning,   and   at  |  Dor- 

'  Chester  |  in  the  afternoon  of  the  9th  of  May,  1798 ;  |  being  the  day  | 
recommended  by  the  President  of  |  the  United   States   for  |  solemn 
Humiliation,  Fasting,  and  Prayer  |  throughout  the  Union.     [2  Kings 
xix.    14.]      Boston:  .  .  Samuel    Etheridge,  .  .  .  1798.     8°,    pp.   24. 
—  An.    Ath.    Bo.    C.    H.    L.    M.    Y. 

346.  — 1798,  May  9.— John  Thornton  Kirkland,  Boston,  Mass. 
A  I  Sermon,  |  delivered  on  the  9th  of  May,  1798.  |  Being  the  day 
of  a  I  National  Fast,  |  recommended  by  the  |  President  of  the  United 
States.  [Isa.  xxvi.  9.]  Boston:  .  .  John  Russell,  .  .  .  1798.  8°, 
pp.  23.  — An.    Ath.    C.    Ct.    H.    L.    M.     U. 

347.  — 1798,  May  9.  — William  Linn,  New  York,  N.  Y.  A  |  Dis- 
course I  on  I  National  Sins :  |  delivered  May  9,  1798 :  |  being  the  day 
recommended  by  the  President  |  of  the  United  States  to  be  observed  | 
as  a  day  of  |  General  Fast.  [Josh.  vii.  13.]  New  York :  .  .  T.  &  J. 
Swords,  .  .  .  1798.  8°,  pp.  vi,  7-37.  — An.  Ath.  C.  Ct.  H.  L. 
U.    Y. 

348.  — 1798,  [May  9].  — Samuel  Eusebius  McCorkle,  Salisbury, 
N.  C.  "  The  work  of  God  for  the  French  Republic,  and  then  her 
reformation  or  ruin ;  or  the  novel  and  useful  experiment  of  national 
Deism,  to  us  and  all  mankind."  A  national  Fast  Sermon.  —  Sprague's 
Annals,  iii.  348. 

349.-1798,   May  9.  — Joseph  McKeen,  Beverly,  Mass.     Two  | 
Discourses,  |  delivered    at  |  Beverly,  |  on   the   day   of   the  |  National 
Fast,  I  May  9,  1798.     [1   Chron.  xxviii.  8.]     Salem :  .  .  Thomas  C. 
Cushing,  1798.    8°,  pp.  31.  — An.     Ath.     C.    H.     L.     U.    Y. 

350.  — 1798,  May  9.  —  Samuel  Miller,  New  York,  N.  Y.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  delivered  May  9,  1798,  |  recommended,  by  the  President  of 
the  J  United  States,  |  to  be  observed  |  as  a  day  of  general  |  Humilia- 
tion, Fasting,  and  Prayer.  [2  Tim.  iii.  1.]  New  York :  .  f  T.  and 
J.  Swords,  1798.     8<^,  pp.  46.  — An.    Ath,     C.     Ct.     H.     L.    M.     U. 

351.  — 1798,  May  9.  —  Jedidiah  Morse,  Charlestown,  Mass.  A  | 
Sermon,  |  delivered  at  the  New  North  Church  in  Boston,  |  in  the 
morning,  |  and  |  in  the  afternoon  at  Charlestown,  |  May  9th,  1798,  | 
being  the  day  recommended  by  |  John  Adams,  |  President  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  |  for  |  solemn  Humiliation,  Fasting  and 
Prayer.  [2  Kings  xix.  3,  4.]  Boston:  .  .  Samuel  Hall,  .  .  1798. 
8°,  pp.  30.  — An.    Ath.     C.     Ct.    H.     L.    M.    U.    Y. 

352.  — 1798,  May  9.  —  David  Osgood,  Medford,  Mass.  Some  Facts 
evincive  of  the  atheistical,  anarchical,  |  and  m  other  respects,  immoral 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  567 

Principles  of  the  |  French  Republicans,  |  stated  in  a  !  Sermon  |  de- 
livered on  the  9th  of  May,  1798,  |  the  day  |  recommended  |  by  the 
President  |  of  the  |  United  States  |  for  |  Solemn  Humiliation,  Fast- 
ing, I  and  Prayer.  [2  Kings  xix.  14-16.]  Printed  by  Samuel  Hall, 
.  .  .  Boston,  1798.  8°,  pp.  27.  — An.  Ath.  Bo.  C.  H.  L.  M. 
U.    Y. 

353.  — 1798,  May  9.  —  Eliphalet  Porter,  Roxbury,  Mass.  A  |  Dis- 
course, I  delivered  at  Brookline,  in  the  morning,  |  and  at  the  |  First 
Parish  in  Roxbury,  in  the  afternoon,  |  of  the  9th  of  May,  1798,  |  being 
the  day  recommended  by  |  John  Adams,  |  President  of  the  United 
States,  I  for  solemn  Humiliation,  Fasting  &  Prayer,  |  throughout  the 
Union.  [Neh.  vi.  16.]  Boston :  .  .  John  Russell,  .  .  .  1798.  8°,  pp. 
36.  — An.    Ath.     Ct.    H.    L.     M.    U.     Y. 

354.  — 1798,  May  9.  —  John  Prince,  Salem,  Mass.  A  |  Discourse,  | 
delivered  at  |  Salem,  |  on  the  day  of  the  |  National  Fast,  |  May  9, 
1798:  I  appointed  by  |  President  Adams,  |  on  account  of  the  difficulties 
subsisting  between  the  |  United  States  and  France.  [1  Tim.  ii.  1-3.] 
(1)  .  .  Thomas  C.  Gushing,  .  .  .  Salem,  1798.  8°,  pp.  44.  — An.  H. 
L.    Y.    (2)  .  .  Thomas  C.  Cushing,  .  .  .  Salem,  1798.    8°,  pp.  (4)  30. 

—  An.  Ath.  C.   H.   M.    (3)  Boston:  .  .  .  1798.    8°,  pp.  30.— H.  M. 
355.-1798,  May  9.  — Gershom  Seixas,  New  York,  N.  Y.    A  | 

Discourse,  |  delivered  |  in  the  Synagogue  |   in  |  New- York,  |  on  |  the 
Ninth  of  May,  1798,  |  observed  as  a  day  |  of  |  Humiliation,  &c.  &c.  | 
Conformably  to  a  Recommendation  |  of  |  the  President  of  the  United 
States    of  I  America.     [Psa.    cxxxiii.]     New    York:   .  .  William  A. 
Davis  &  Co.,  .  .  .  1798.    8%  pp.  32.  —  C. 

356.  — 1798,  May  9.  —  John  Thayer  [Catholic  Missioner]  Boston, 
Mass.  A  I  Discourse,  |  delivered,  |  at  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  | 
in  Boston,  |  on  the  9th  of  May,  1798,  |  a  day  recommended  by  the  | 
President,  |  for  |  Humiliation  and  Prayer  |  throughout  the  |  United 
States.  [1  Thess.  v.  17,  18.]  Boston:  .  .  Samuel  Hall,  .  .  .  1798. 
8°,  pp.  31.  — An.    Ath.     C.     Ct.     H.     L.    Y. 

357.-1798,  May  9.  — John  Wilder,  Attleborough,  Mass.     A  | 
Discourse,  |  delivered  May  9,  1798,  |  on  the  importance  of  Special  |    . 
Humiliation.     [Joel   ii.  15-17.]    .    .   Wrentham,  Mass.,  by  Nathaniel 
and  Benjamin  Heaton,  1798.     8°,  pp.  27.  —  C. 

358. —  1798,  [Aug.  30].  —  Jonathan  P'reeman,  Bridgeton,  N.  J. 
"  He  published  a  Sermon  on  the  day  appointed  by  the  General  As- 
sembly as  a  day  of  Solemn  Humiliation,  Fasting,  and  Prayer,  1798." 

—  Sprague's  Annals,  iv.  394. 

359.  — 1798,  Nov.  15  and  29.  —  Abiel  Abbot,  Haverhill,  Mass.  A 
Memorial  of  Divine  Benefits.  |  In  a  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  at  Exeter, 
on  the  15th,  |  and  at  |  Haverhill,  on  the  29th  of  November,  |  1798,  | 
days  of  |  Public  Thanksgiving,  |  in  |  New-Hampshire  and  Massachu- 
setts. [Psa.  ciii.  2.]  .  .  Haverhill :  By  Moore  &  Stebbins,  .  .  .  1798. 
8°,  pp.  26.  —  Ath.    C.    L.    U. 


568  FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

360. —  1798,  Nov.  15. —Joseph  Buckminster,  Portsmouth,  N.  H. 
A  I  Discourse,  |  delivered  in  |  the  first  parish  in  Portsmouth,  |  Novem- 
ber 15,  1798,  I  a  day  observed  |  as  an  |  Anniversary  Thanksgiving. 
[Psa.  xlviii.  9.]  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  .  .  John  Melcher,  1798.  8°, 
pp.  21.  — An.     C.     Ct.     H.     L.    M. 

361.  — 1798,  Nov.  15.— Abel  Fiske,  Wilton,  N.H.  A  |  Discourse,  | 
delivered  at  |  Wilton,  |  November  15,  1798 ;  |  being  the  day  of  the  j 
Anniversary   Thanksgiving  |  throughout  the  |  State   of  New  Hamp- 
shire.    [Psa.  cxlix.  8.]     [Two  other  sermons  added.]     Amherst,  N.  H., 
....  Samuel  Preston,  1799.     8%  pp.  44  (1-24).  —  An.     H.     N.  H. 

362.  — 1798,  Nov.  15.— Robert  Gray,  Dover,  N.H.  A  |  Discourse  | 
delivered   in  |  Dover,  |    November  15th,    1798.  |  A  |  day   observed  | 
as  an  |  Anniversary  |  Thanksgiving.     [Psa.  cxlviii.  1-4.]     Dover;   .  . 
Samuel  Bragg,  Jun.  ...  8°,  pp.  (2)  21.  —  C.     H. 

363.  — 1798,  Nov.  15.  —  Asa  McFarland,  Concord,  N.  H.     A  | 
Sermon,  |  delivered  at  |  Concord,  |  New-Hampshire,  |  on  the  |  day  of 
Annual  Thanksgiving,  |  November  15,  1798.     [Psa.  cxlvii.  30.]     Con- 
cord :  .  .  George  Hough,  n.  d.     8°,  pp.  24.  —  C.     N.  H. 

364.  — 1798,  Nov.  29.—  John  AUyn,  Duxbury,  Mass.    A  |  Sermon,  | 
delivered  on    the    29th  of    November,  1798,  |  the    day  |  of  |  Public 
Thanksgiving  |  in  the  |  State  of  Massachusetts.     [Rom.  ii.  4.]     Bos- 
ton: .  .  Samuel  Hall,  .  .  .  1799.     8°,  pp.  21.  — H.     L.     M. 

365.  —  1798,  Nov.  29.  —  Samuel  Camp,  Ridgbury,  Conn.  Thanks- 
giving and  Praise  due  to  God,  for  his  |  Wisdom,  Power,  and  Goodness, 
displayed  |  in  the  late  and  present  Dispensations  |  of  his  Providence.  | 
A  I  Discourse  |  delivered  at  Ridgbury,  |  on  the  day  of  |  Public 
Thanksgiving:  |  November  29,  1798.  [Psa.  cxxxvi.  1.]  Printed  in 
Danbury,  by  Douglas  &  Nichols,  1799.     8°,  pp.  23.  —  C.     Ct. 

366.  — 1798,  Nov.  29.  —  Henry  Cumings,  Billerica,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon I  preached  at  |  Billerica,  |  November  29,  1798,  |  being  the  day  of 
the  I  Anniversary  Thanksgiving  |  throughout  the  |  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts.  [Job  v.  12-16.]  Boston :  .  .  John  &  Thomas  Fleet, 
...1798.    8°,  pp.  31.  — An.    Ath.     C.     H.     L.    M.    Y. 

367.  —  1798,  Nov.  29.  —  Joseph  Eckley,  Boston,  Mass.  A  |  Dis- 
course, I  delivered  on  the  |  Public  Thanksgiving  Day,  |  November  29, 
1798.  [Gal.  V.  1.]  (1)  Boston:  ....  Manning  &  Loring,  1798.  8^, 
pp.  23.  — An.  Ath.  C.  Ct.  H.  L.  M.  U.  Y.  (2)  Same.  — An. 
H.    Y. 

368.  —  1798,  Nov.  29.  —  Jonathan  French,  Andover,  Mass.     A  | 
Sermon,  |  delivered    on   the  |  Anniversary  Thanksgiving  |  November 
29,  1798.  I  With  I  some  additions  in  the  historical  part.     [Psa.  xl.  5.] 
Andover :  .  .  Ames  and  Parker,  1799.     8°,  pp.  31.  —  An.     Ath.     C. 
H.    L.    M.    Y. 

369.  —  1798,  Nov.  29.  —  Asa  Messer,  [Brown  Univ.]  Providence, 
R.  I.   A  I  Discourse,  |  delivered  on  |  Thanksgiving-Day,  |  the  29th  of 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  569 

November,  1798,  |  at  the  |  Congreg-ational  Meeting'-House,  |  in  the  | 
First   Precinct  in  Rehoboth.       [Jas.   i.    17.]       Pro\ddence  :  .  .  John 
Carter,  jnn.,  .  .  .  n.  d.     8°,  pp.  16.  —  Andover  Theol.  iSera. 

370.  —  1798,  Nov.  29.  —  Jedidiah  Morse,  Charlestown,  Mass.  A  | 
Sermon,  |  preached  at  Charlestown,  |  November  29,  1798,  |  on  the  | 
Anniversary  Thanksgiving-  |  in  |  Massachusetts.  |  With  |  an  Appen- 
dix, etc.  [Ex.  xviii.  8,  9.]  [Two  documents  at  the  end  of  the  second 
edition  were  also  printed  separately.]  (1)  .  .  Samuel  Hall,  .  .  . 
1798.  8^  pp.  74.  —  Ath.  C.  Ct.  H.  L.  M.  Y.  (2)  ..  Samuel 
Hall,  ...  1799.  8°,  pp.  79.  — An.  Ath.  Ct.  H.  L.  U.  Y.  (3) 
Worcester:  .  .  Daniel  Greenleaf,  1799.     8°,  pp.  88.  —  L. 

371.  —  1798,  Nov.  29.  —  Samuel  Spring,  Newburyport,  Mass.    A  | 
Thanksgiving  |  Sermon,  |  preached  November  29,  1798.      [Psa.  ci.  1.] 
Newburyport :  .  .  Angier  March,  .  .  .  1798.      8°,  pp.   26.  —  C.     L. 
M.     Y. 

372.  —  1798,  Nov.  29.  —  Nathan  Strong,  Hartford,  Conn.  Politi- 
cal Instruction  from  the  Prophecies  |  of  God's  Word.  |  A  |  Sermon,  | 
preached  on  the  |  State  Thanksgiving,  |  Nov.  29,  1798.  [Rev.  xviii. 
4.]  (1)  Hartford:  .  .  Hudson  and  Goodwin,  1798.  8°,  pp.  30.— 
Ath.  C.  Ct.  L.  Y.  (2)  Hartford,  Printed:  New  York,  Re- 
printed by  G.  Forman,  for  C.  Davis,  1799.   8°,  pp.  24.  — Ct.   L.  U.  Y. 

373.-1798,  Nov.  29.  — John  Taylor,  Deerfield,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  delivered  on  the  day  of  |  Public  Thanksgiving,  |  at  Deerfield ; 
Nov.  29,  '98.  [Deut.  xi.  12.]  .  .  Greenfield,  by  Francis  Barker,  n.  d. 
4°,  pp.  19.  — C.     Ct.    M.     Y. 

374.  — 1798,  [Dec.  6].  — Thomas  Mason,  Princeton,  Mass.     A  | 
Sermon,  |  delivered  at  |  Middlebury,  |  Vermont ;  |  on  occasion  of  the 
anniversary  |  Thanksgiving,  |  1798.      [Rev.    xix.   6.]      [The  govern- 
ment of  God  an  occasion  of  joy  to  mankind.]  .  .  Rutland,  Vermont, 
by  John  Walker,  jun.,  .  .  .  1799.     8°,  pp.  18.  —  Ct.     L.     N.  H. 

375.  — 1799,  Feb.  5.  —  Samuel  Miller,  New  York,  N.  Y.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  delivered  February  5,  1799  ;  |  recommended  by  the  Clergy  of 
the  City  of  |  New- York,  |  to  be  observed  as  a  day  of  |  Thanksgiving, 
Humiliation,  and  Prayer,  |  on  account  of  the  removal  of  a  |  Malig- 
nant and  Mortal  Disease,  |  which  had  prevailed  in  the  city  |  some 
time  before.  [Psa.  ii.  11.]  New  York:  .  .  George  Forman,  1799. 
8°,  pp.  36.  — An.     Ath.     Ct.     L.    U.    Y. 

376.-1799,  Apr.  2.  — Thomas  Baldwin,  Boston,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  on  Tuesday,  April  2,  1799 ;  |  at  a  |  Quarterly  Meeting  of  sev- 
eral Churches  |  for  |  Special  Prayer.  [Isa.  xliii.  12,  13.]  Boston : 
.  .  Manning  &  Loring,  1799.     8°,  pp.  24.  — An.     Y. 

377.  —  1799,  Apr.  4.  —  Levi  Frisbie,  Ipswich,  Mass.     The  Nature 
and  Effects  of  the  Works  of  Dark-  |  ness  Detected  and  Displayed,  | 
in  two  I  Discourses,  |  delivered  at   the  |  First   Parish  in  Ipswich,  | 
April  4, 1799,  |  on  the  |  Anniversary  Fast  Day  |  throughout  the  State 


570         FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

of  I  Massachusetts.     [Eph.  v.  11.]   .   .  Angier  March,  Newburyport, 
1799.    8°,  pp.  23,  53.  —  Ath.     C.     Ct. 

378.  —  1799,  Apr.  4.  —  Leonard  Woods,  Newbury,  Mass.     Two  | 
Sermons  |  on  Profane  Swearing,  |  delivered  |  April  4, 1799 ;  |  the  day 
appointed  by  |  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts  j  for  Humiliation,  Fast- 
ing and  Prayer.       [Ex.  xx.  7.]      Newburyport :   .  .  Angier  March, 
1799.    8^pp.  39.— An.     Ath.     C. 

379.  — 1799,  Apr.  4  and  25.  — Hezekiah  Packard,  Chelmsford, 
Mass.  Federal  Republicanism,  |  Displayed  |  in  |  Two  Discourses,  | 
preached  on  the  day  of  the  State  Fast  |  at  Chelmsford,  |  and  on  the 
day  of  the  National  Fast  at  |  Concord,  |  in  April,  1799.  [Prov.  xviii. 
17.]  Boston:  .  .  John  RusseU,  1799.  8°,  pp.  35. —An.  Ath.  C. 
H.    L.    Y. 

380. —  1799,  Apr.  25. —Jacob  Burnap,  Merrimack,  N.  H.     A  | 
Sermon   |   delivered  at   Merrimac,    |   on   the   day  |  of   the  |  National 
Fast,  I  April  25,  1799.     [1  Kings  xviii.  17,  18.]     Amherst :  Preston's 
Printing-office,  1799.     8°,  pp.  15.  —An.     H. 

381.  — 1799,  Apr.  25.  —  Abraham  Cummings. 

The  present  Times  perilous.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  preached  at  Sullivan,  | 
on  the  I  National  Fast,  |  April  25,  1799.     [2  Tim.  iii.  1-9.]     Printed 
for  David  J.  Waters,  Castine,  n.  d.     8°,  pp.  24.  —  An.     L. 

382.  —  1799,  Apr.  25.  —  Maiiasseh  Cutler,  [Ipswich  Hamlet]  Ham- 
ilton, Mass.  A  I  Sermon,  |  delivered  at  |  Hamilton,  |  on  the  day  |  of 
the  I  National  Fast,  |  April  25,  1799 ;  |  appointed  by  the  |  President 
of  the  United  States  of  |  America.  [Jer.  ix.  9.]  Salem :  .  .  Johna. 
Gushing,  1799.    8o,pp.  32.— Ath.     C.     Y. 

383.  —  1799,  Apr.  25.  —  Daniel  Dana,  Newburyport,  Mass.     Two  | 
Sermons,  |  delivered  |  April  25,  1799 :  |  the  day  recommended  by  | 
the  President  of  the  United  States  |  for  National  |  Humiliation,  Fast- 
ing and  Prayer.     [Psa.  cvi.  24.    Neh.  iv.  9.]   .   .  Angier  March,  New- 
buryport, 1799.    8°,  pp.  29,  56.  —  An.    Ath.    C.    Ct.    H.    L.   U.  Y. 

384.  —  1799,  Apr.  25.  —  Joseph  Dana,  Ipswich,  Mass.     The  Duty 
and  Reward  of  loving  our  |  Country,  and  seeking  it's  Prosperity.  |  A  | 
Discourse  |  delivered   in   two   parts,  |  at  the  |  National  Fast,  |  April 
25th  1799.     [Psa.  cxxii.  6.]     Boston :   .  .  Manning  &  Loring,   179-9. 
8°,  pp.  41.  —  An.     Ath.     C.     L.     M.     Y. 

385.  —  1799,  Apr.  25.  —  Nathaniel  Emmons,  Franklin,  Mass.     A  | 
Discourse,  |  delivered  |  on  the  National  Fast,  |  April  25,  1799.    [Titus 
iii.  1.]     (1)  Wrentham:  .  .  Nathaniel  and  Benjamin  Heaton,  1799. 
8°,  pp.  31.  — An.    Ath.    C.   Ct.   H.   U.   Y.    (2)  Reprinted  in  Works, 
1842. 

386.— 1799,  Apr.  25.  —  Eliphalet  GiUet,   Hallowell,  Me.      A  | 
Discourse,  |  delivered  at  |  Hallowell,  April  25th,  1799.  |  Being  |  the 
day  appointed  by  the  |  Chief  Magistrate  |  of  the  |  United  States,  |  for 
a  I   National   Fast.      [Numb.    xvi.    14.]      (1)    Hallowell,    1799.      (2) 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  571 

Hallowell-Printed :  New  York- Re-Printed  for,  and  Sold  by  Corne- 
lius Davis,  .  .  .  1799.  8°,  pp.  22.  — C.  Ct.  L.  M.  U.  Y.  (3) 
Augusta,  (District  of  Maine)  .  .  Peter  Edes,  1799.  8°,  pp.  32.— 
Ath. 

387.  —  1799,  Apr.  25.  —  Walter  Harris,  Dunbarton,  N.  H.     A  | 
Discourse,  |  delivered  at  |  Dunbarton,  |  New-Hampshire,  |  April  25, 
1799  :  I  being-  |  the  day  of  a  |  National  Fast.     [Psa.  Ixxxii.  5.]     Con- 
cord :  .  .  Geo.  Hough,  1799.     8°,  pp.  32.  —  C. 

388.  —  1799,  Apr.  25.  —  Abiel  Holmes,  Cambridge,  Mass.  A  | 
Sermon  |  preached  at  |  Brattle-Street  Church,  in  Boston,  |  and  |  at 
Cambridge,  |  April  25,  1799,  |  the  day  appointed  |  by  the  |  President 
of  the  United  States  |  f or  a  |  National  Fast.  [2  Chron.  xxxii.  5-8.] 
Boston  :  Printed  for  Young  &  Minns,  1799.  8°,  pp.  31.  —  An.  Ath. 
Bo.     C.    Ct.    H.    L.    M.    Y. 

389.  — 1799,  Apr.  25.  —  John  Lathrop,  Boston,  Mass.  Patriotism 
and  Religion.  |  A  Sermon,  |  preached  on  the  25th  of  April,  |  1799  |  the 
day  recommended  |  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  |  to  be 
observed  as  a  |  National  Fast.  [Luke  xix.  41,  42.]  Boston :  .  . 
John  Russell,  1799.    8°,  pp.  30.  —  An.    Ath.    C.    Ct.    H.  M.  U.   Y. 

390.  —  1799,  Apr.  25.  —  Jedidiah  Morse,  Charlestown,  Mass.  A  | 
Sermon,  |  Exhibiting  |  the  Present  Dangers,  and  Consequent  |  Duties 
of  the  Citizens  of  the  |  United  States  of  America.  |  Delivered  at 
Charlestown,  April  25,  1799.  |  The  day  of  the  |  National  Fast.  [Psa. 
xi.  3.]  [Notes  on  the  Illuminati  appended.]  (1)  Charlestown :  .  . 
Samuel  Etheridge,  ...  1799.  8°,  pp.  50.  —  An.  Ath.  Bo.  C.  H. 
L.  Y.  (2)  Hartford  :  Reprinted  by  Hudson  and  Goodwin,  1799.  8°, 
pp.  42.  —  Ct.  L.  Y.  (3)  New  York:  ....  Cornelius  Davis,  .  .  . 
1799.    8°,  pp.  36.— M.    U. 

391.  —  1799,  Apr.  25.  —  David  Osgood,  Medford,  Mass.  The  Devil 
Let  Loose,  or  |  The  Wo  occasioned  to  the  Inhabi-  |  tants  of  the  Earth 
by  his  wrathful  Ap-pearance  among  them,  |  illustrated  in  a  |  Dis- 
course I  delivered  on  1  the  day  |  of  the  |  National  Fast,  |  April  25, 
1799.  [Rev.  xii.  12.]  [Published  Anonymously.]  Boston :  .  .  .  . 
Samuel  Hall,  .  .  .  1799.     8°,  pp.  16.— An.     Ath.     Ct.     L. 

392.  —  1799,  Apr.  25.  —  Samuel  Stillman,  Boston,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  preached  at  Boston.  |  April  25,  1799 ;  |  the  day  recommended 
by  the  |  President  of  the  United  States  |  for  a  |  National  Fast.  [Joel 
ii.  15-17.]  Boston  :  .  .  Manning  &  Loring,  .  .  .  1799.  8°,  pp.  28.  — 
An.    Ath.-  C.     H.     L.    M.    Y. 

393.  — 1799,   Apr.   25.  — Eliab   Stone,   Reading,   Mass.     A  |  Dis- 
course, I  delivered  at  Reading,  |  on  the  day  of  the  |  National  Fast,  | 
April  25,   1799.     [2  Sam.    x.   12.]     Boston:   .  .  Manning  &   Loring, 
1799.    8°,  pp.  29.— An.     Ath.     H.     N.  H. 

394.  — 1799,  Apr.  25.— Ezra  Weld,  Braintree,  Mass.  A  |  Dis- 
course, I  delivered  April  25,  1799  ;  |  being  |  the  day  of  |  Fasting  and 


572  FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING   DAYS. 

Prayer  |  throughout  the  |  United  States  of  America.  [2  Kings  xviii. 
36.]  Boston:  .  .  Manning  &  Loring,  1799.  8°,  pp.  vi.  7-31.  —  An. 
Ath.     Ct.     H.     M.     Y. 

395.— 1799,  Apr.  25.  — William  White,  Philadelphia,  Pa.     A  | 
Sermon  |  on    the  |  Duty  |  of  |  Civil    Obedience,  |  as    Required    in  | 
Scripture.  |  Delivered  in  Christ  Church  and  St.   Peters,   April  |  25, 
1799,  being  a  day  of  general  Humiliation,  |  appointed  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.    [Rom.  xiii.  1,  2.]    Philadelphia  :   .  .  John 
Ormrod,  .  .  .  1799.     8°,  pp.  26.  — Ath.     H. 

396.  —  1799,  Nov.  28.  —  Abiel  Abbot,  HaverhUl,  Mass.  Traits  of 
Resemblance  in  the  Peo-  |  pie  of  the  United  States  of  Amer-  |  ica  to 
Ancient  Israel.  |  In  a  |  Sermon  |  delivered  at  Haverhill,  |  on  the  | 
Twenty-eighth  of  November,  1799,  |  the  day  |  of  |  Anniversary 
Thanksgiving.  [Deut.  xxxiii.  29.]  Haverhill :  .  .  .  .  Moore  &  Steb- 
bins,  .  .  .  1799.    8^,  pp.  25.  — Ath.     C.    U. 

397.  — 1799,  Nov.  28.  — Peter  Eaton,  Boxford,  Mass.  A  |  Sermon,  | 
preached   at   Boxford,  |  November    28,    1799.  |  The  day  |  of  |  Anni- 
versary  Thanksgiving   |   in   the   |   Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts. 
[Psa.    cvii.  22.]     Haverhill :   .  .  Moore  &  Stebbins,  .  .  .  1799.      8°, 
pp.  24.  —  An.     L. 

398. —  1799,  Nov.  28.  —  Joseph  Sumner,  Shrewsbury,  Mass.     A  | 
Sermon,  |  preached  at  Shrewsbury  |  November  28,  1799.  |  On  the  An- 
niversary  Thanksgiving   |   in  |   Massachusetts.      [Deut.  xxxiii.   29.] 
Brookfield,  Mass. :  .  .  E.  Merriam  &  Co.,  1800.    8°,  pp.  26.  —  An. 
Ct.     L.    M.    Y. 

399.  — 1799,  Dec.  5.  —  Martin  Tullar,  Royalton,  Vt.  The  Virtues 
of  a  Prudent  Wife,  |  illustrated  in  a  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  at  Royalton, 
Vermont,  |  on  the  |  Anniversary  Thanksgiving,  |  December  5,  A.  D. 
1799.  [Prov.  xix.  14.]  Printed  at  Hanover  (N.  H.),  by  Moses  Davis, 
n.  d.    8°,  pp.  26(2).— U. 

400.  — 1799,  Dec.  13.  —  David  Porter,  Spencertown,  N.  Y.     Two  | 

Discourses :  | The   Second  |  delivered  on   a  |  Thanksgiving 

Occasion,  |  at  the  same  place  |  December  13,  1799.  [Spencertown.] 
[Rev.  xi.  17.]  Hudson:  Ashbel  Stoddard,  1800.  12°,  pp.  21,  33.— 
Ath.     Ct. 

401.  — 1800,  Nov.  27.  —  John  Crane,  Northbridge,  Mass.    A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  preached  at  Northbridge,  |  November  27,    1800.  |  On    the  | 
Anniversary   Thanksgiving  |  in  |  Massachusetts.       [Eph.    i.    15,    16.] 
Worcester:  .  .  Daniel  Greenleaf,   1800.      8°,  pp.  21.  — L;     U.     Y. 

402.  — 1800,  Nov.  27.  —  Nathaniel  Emmons,  Franklin,  Mass.     A  | 
Sermon,  |  preached    on   the  |  Annual    Thanksgiving  |  in  |  Massachu- 
setts. I  November  27,  1800.     [1  Sam.  xii.  22.]     (1)  Wrentham  (Mass.), 
..  Nathaniel  Heaton,  Jun.,  1801.     8°,  pp.  30.  —  An.      C.     U.     (2) 
Reprinted  in  Works,  1842. 

403.  —  1800,  Nov.  27.  —Henry  Augustus  Rowland,  Windsor,  Conn. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  573 

A  I  Discourse,  |  delivered  |  November  2Tth,  1800 ;  |  a  day  observed 
as  an  |  Anniversary  Thanksgiving.  [Psa.  cxlv.  10.]  Hartford:  .  . 
Hudson  and  Goodwin,  1801.     8°,  pp.  20.  —  C.     Ct.     L.     Y. 

404.  —  1800,  Nov.   27.  —'Nathan  Strong,    Hartford,    Conn.     A  | 
Thanksgiving  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  |  November    2Tth,     1800.       [Psa. 
xvi.  4-6.]      Hartford:  .  .  Hudson  and  Goodwin,  1800.      8°,  pp.  18. 

—  Ct.    L.    Y. 

405.  —  1801,  Apr.  9.  — Henry  Cumings,  Billeriea,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  preached  at  |  Billeriea,  |  April  9th,  1801 ;  |  being  the  day  of 
the  I  Annual  Fast.  [Rom.  xiii.  11.]  Amherst,  New  Hampsliire : 
From  Samuel  Preston's  Office,  1801.  8°,  pp.  29.  — Ath.  C.  H. 
L.    Y. 

406.  — 1801,  Apr.  9.  —  Nathaniel  Emmons,  Franklin,  Mass.     A  | 
Discourse,  |  delivered   on  the  |  Annual    Fast  |  in  |   Massachusetts,  | 
April   9,    1801.      [2   Kings   xvii.   21.]      (1)    Wrentham    (Mass.),  .  . 
Nathaniel  Heaton,  Jun.,  1801.     8°,  pp.  36.  —  An.     C.     Ct.     Y.     (2) 
New  York :  .  .  T.  &  J.  Swords,  for  C.  Davis,  1801.     8°,  pp.  37  (2). 

—  Ct.  L.  (3)  Hartford :  Reprinted  by  Hudson  and  Goodwin,  1801. 
8°,  pp.  23.  —  Ct.  L.  Y.  (4)  Salem  :  Reprinted  by  Joshua  Cushing, 
1802.    8°,pp.  38.  — Ath.    Bo.     C.    H.     L.    U. 

407.  — 1801,  Apr.  9.  — John  Leland,  Cheshire,  Mass.  A  |  Blow  at 
the  Root,  I  being  a  fashionab[l]e  Fast  Day  Sermon,  deliv-  |  ered  at 
Cheshire,  April  9th,  1801.  (1)  Suffield,  [Conn.] :  .  .  Edward  Gray, 
1801.  12^  pp.  36.  — Ct.  (2)  New  London:  .  .  Joseph  D.  Hunting- 
ton, ..  .  1801.    8°,  pp.  .32.  — An.     L. 

408.  — 1801,  Apr.  9.— Joseph  McKeen,  Beverly,  Mass.  A  |  Dis- 
course I  against  |  Speaking  Evil  of  Rulers  :  |  delivered  on  the  |  Anni- 
versary Fast  I  in  |  Massachusetts,  |  April  9th,  1801.  [Acts  xxiii.  5.] 
.  .  Salem,  by  Joshua  Cushing,  1801.     8°,  pp.  17.  —  C.     H.     L.     U. 

409.  — 1801,  Apr.  9.— Stephen  West,  Stockbridge,  Mass.  A  | 
Sermon,  |  delivered  on  the  |  Public  Fast,  |  April  9th,  1801.  [Jer. 
xxiii.   33.]    .   .   Stockbridge,  by   Heman  WUlard,  1801.     8°,  pp.  27. 

—  Ct. 

410.  — 1801 ,  Apr.  9.  —  Ezra  Witter,  Wilbraham,  Mass.     Two  |  Ser- 
mons, I  on  the  I  Party  Spirit  and  Divided  State  of  the  |  Country,  Civil 
and  Religious.  |  Delivered   at  Wilbraham,  April  9,   1801,  |  on  the  | 
Anniversary  Fast,  |  in  Massachusetts.     [Matt.  xii.  25.]     Springfield: 
.  .  Ashley  &  Brewer,  n.  d.     8°,  pp.  15,  28.  — Ct.     L.     N.  H.     U. 

411.  —  1802,  Apr.  8.  —  Rufus  Anderson,  No.  Yarmouth,  Me. 
Two  I  Discourses,  |  delivered  on  the  |  Public  Fast,  |  in  the  |  Com- 
monwealth I  of  Massachusetts,  |  April  8, 1802.  [Prov.  xiv.  34.]  Port- 
land :  Printed  for  E.  A.  Jenks,  1802.     8°,  pp.  40.  —  Bo.     C.     U. 

412.  —  1802,  Apr.  8.  —  Nathaniel  Emmons,  Franklin,  Mass.     A  | 
Discourse  |  delivered  on  the  day  of  the  |  Annual  Fast  |  in  |  Massachu- 
setts, I  April   8,   1802.     [Gal.    iv.   17.]     (1)    Wrentham    (Mass.),   .   . 


574         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

Nathaniel  Heaton,  Jun.,  1802.     8°,  pp.  35.  —  An.     Ath.     C.     L.     U. 
(2)  Reprinted  in  Works,  1842. 

413.  — 1802,  Apr.  28.  —  Leonard  Worcester,  Peacham,  Vt     A  | 
Sermon,  |  preached  at  |  Peacham,  |  April  28th,  1802 ;  |  being  a  day 
of  I  Public  Fasting  and  Prayer,  |  in  the  |  State  of  Vermont.     [Dent, 
xxxii.  15,  19,  20.]     Peacham,  Vermont :  .  .  Samuel  Goss,  1802.     8"^, 
pp.  32.  —  Andover  Theol.  Sem. 

414.  — 1802,  Oct.  19.— Vinson  Gould,  Southampton,  Mass.     A  | 
Sermon,  |  preached  |  at  |  Westhampton,  |  in   a  |  Time   of   Sickness  | 
in  that  Town.  |  Tuesday,  19th,  October,  1802.     [Amos  iv.  12.]     North- 
ampton, Printed  at  the  Hive  Office,  by  Thomas  M.  Pomroy,  1804. 
8°,  pp.  14.  — Ct. 

415.  —  1802,  Nov.  25.  —  Hezekiah  May,  Bath,  Me.  A  |  Thanks- 
giving Sermon,  |  preached  at  |  Bath,  in  the  District  of  Maine,  |  No- 
vember 25,  1802.  [Eph.  V.  20.]  .  .  E.  A.  Jenks,  .  .  .  Portland,  1802. 
8°,pp.  28.— H. 

416.  —  1803,  Mar.  31.  —  Samuel  Tomb,  Newbury,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  delivered  March  31,  1803,  |  in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church 
in  I  Newburyport,  |  on  a  day  of  |  Fasting  and  Prayer.  |  Observed  by 
them,  particularly  for  the  purpose  of  seeking  |  Divine  direction  in  the 
choice  and  settlement  of  a  Gos-  |  pel  Minister  among  them.  [Acts  i. 
24.]  Newburyport:  .  .  Allen  &  Barnard,  1803.  8°,  pp.  24.— 
C.    Y. 

417.  —  1803,  Apr.  7.  —  Nathaniel  Emmons,  Franklin,  Mass.     A  | 
Discourse  |  delivered  on  the    day  of  the  |  Annual  Fast  |  in  |  Massa- 
chusetts, I  April  7,  1803.      [2  Chron.  xxiv.  15,  16.]     (1)   Wrentham, 
Mass.,   .  .  Nathaniel  Heaton,  Jun.,  1803.      8°,  pp.   36.  —  An.      Ath. 
C.     L.     (2)  Reprinted  in  Works,  1842. 

418.  —  1803,  Apr.  7.  —  Joseph  Lathrop,  West  Springfield,  Mass. 
The  I  Constancy  and  Uniformity  |  of  the  |  Divine  Government,  | 
illustrated  and  improved  |  in  a  |  Sermon,  |  preached  in  Springfield, 
April  7,  1803,  I  which  was  a  day  of  |  Public  Fasting  and  Prayer. 
[Ecc.  i.  9,  10.]  Springfield:  .  .  Henry  Brewer,  n.  d.  8°,  pp.  21. 
—  An.    Ath.    Ct.    L.    U. 

419.  — 1803,  Apr.  7.  —Samuel  Tomb,  Newbury,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon I  delivered  |  in  the  2d  Church  in  Newbury,  |  on  the  Annual 
Fast,  I  April  7,  1803.  [Ex.  xxii.  28.]  (1)  Newburyport:  .  .  C. 
Cross,  ...  1803.    8°,pp.  15.— C.     (2)  Same.  — C.     L. 

420.  — 1803,    Apr.     7.  —  Joseph    Woodman,   Sanbornton,  N.    H. 
The  I  Substance  |  of  |  Two  Discourses,  |  on  the  |  Vision  of  Micaiah,  | 
with  some  |  general  remarks  on   the    Character  of  |  Ahab,  King  of 
Israel.  |   Delivered  at  Sandbornton,   |   on   the  |  Anniversary   Fast,  | 
April   7th,    1803.       [1    Kings    xxii.    19-23.]      Concord:  .  .  George 
Hough,  1803.    8°,  pp.  32.  —  C.    L. 

421.  — 1803.  Nov.  24.  —  Evan  Johns,  Berlin,  Conn.     The  Happi- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  575 

ness  of  American  Christians.  |  A  |  Thanksgiving  |  Sermon,  j 
preached  |  on  Thursday  the  24th  of  November  1803.  [Psa.  cxliv.  15.] 
Hartford,  .  .  Hudson  and  Goodwin,  1804.  8°,  pp.  15.  —  Ath.  Ct. 
L.    U.    Y. 

422.  —  1803,  Nov.    24.  —  William  Fowler  Miller,  Windsor,  Conn. 
Christ  the  Rod  of  Iron  upon  all  Antichris-  |  tian  Kings  and  Nations.  | 
A  I  Sermon,  |  delivered  on  the  |  Annual  Thanksgiving,  in  Connecti- 
cut, I  November  24th  1803.    |    To  which  is  annexed,  |  an  Appendix  | 
on  the  I  Prophecies  of  the  Sixth  and  Seventh  Vials.     [Psa.  ii.  10-12.] 
Hartford:  .  .  Hudson  &  Goodwin,  1804.     8°,  pp.  126.  — Ct.     L.    Y. 

423.  — 1803,  Dec.  1.  — Jonathan  French,  North-Hampton,  N.  H. 
A  I  Discourse,  |  delivered  in  the  South  Parish  in  Andover,  |  Decem- 
ber 1,  1803,  I  on  the  |  Anniversary  Thanksgiving  |  in  |  Massachusetts. 
[Deut.  viii.  10.]  Newburyport :  .  .  E.  M.  Blunt,  1804.  8°,  pp.  20.  — 
C.    H.    N.  H. 

424.  —  1804,  Mar.  30.  —  Ludovicus  Weld,  Hampton,   Conn.     A  | 
Sermon,  delivered  on  the  day  of  the  |  Annual  Fast,  |  in  |  Connecti- 
cut, I  March   30,  1804.      [Jer.   v.  31.]      Windham:  .  .  John   Byrae, 
1804.     8°,  pp.  25.— Ct. 

425.  — 1804,  Apr.  5.  —  Thomas  Crafts,  Middleborough,  Mass.     A  | 
Sermon,  |  delivered  at    the  Second  Parish  in  |   Middleborough.    |   at 
the  I  Annual  Fast  |  in  the  |  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts.  |  April 
5,   1804.      [Prov.   xiv.   34.]      Boston:  .  .  Manning   &   Loring,  .  .  . 
1804.    8°,  pp.  22.  —  An.     Ath.     C.     L. 

426.  — 1804,  Apr.  5.  —  Enoch  Hale,  Westhampton,  Mass.  Asking 
amiss  and  not  receiving.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  preached  |  in  |  Westhamp- 
ton, I  on  a  day  |  of  |  Fasting  and  Prayer  |  in  |  Massachusetts,  |  April 
5,  A.  D.  1804.  [James  iv.  3.]  Northampton  :  Printed  at  the  Hive 
Office,  by  Thomas  M.  Pomeroy,  1804.     8°,  pp.  12.  —  C.     Ct.     L.     U. 

427.  —  1804,  Apr.  5.  —  Jotham  Waterman,  Barnstable,  Mass.  Na- 
tional Righteousness  National  Security.  |  A  |  Discourse,  |  delivered 
April  5,  1804.  |  The  day  appointed  for  |  Fast,  |  by  His  Excellency  | 
Caleb  Strong,  Esq.  |  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth  of  |  Massachu- 
setts. [Prov.  xvi.  34.]  Boston :  .  .  Manning  &  Loring,  .  .  .  1804. 
8°,  pp.  27.  — An.     Bo.     Ct.     H.     Y. 

428.  — 1804,  Apr.  5.  —  Payson  Williston,  Easthampton,  Mass.   A  | 
Sermon,   |  delivered   |   in  |  East-Hampton,  |  on  |  the    day    of  |  the  | 
Public  Fast  |  April  5, 1804.     [Jer.  v.  7.]    Northampton :  Printed  at  the 
Hive  Office,  by  Thomas  M.  Pomeroy,  1804.     8°,  pp.  19  (2).  — Ct.     U. 

429.  —  1804,  Apr.  19.  —  Drury  Fairbank,  Plymouth,  N.  H.     A  | 
Discourse,  |  delivered    at    Plymouth,  |  New  -  Hampshire,  |  on  |  Fast 
Day,  I  April  19th,    1804.      [Prov.   xxiv.  21.]      Concord :  .  .  George 
Hough,  1804.    8°,  pp.  26.  —  C. 

430.  — 1804,  Apr.  19.  —  Eli  Smith,  Hollis,  N.  H.  The  Signs  of  the 
Times,  I  A  I  Sermoq,  |  delivered  in  |  Holies,  New-Hampshire,    April 


676         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

19,  1804,  I  the  day  of  the  |  Annual  Fast.     [Matt.  xvi.  3.]     Amherst, 
N.  H.,  .  .  Joseph  Gushing,  1804.     8°,  pp.  31.  —  C.     M.     N.  H. 

431.  — 1804,  Apr.  19.  —Samuel  Wood,  Boscawen,  N.  H.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  preached  at  Boscawen,  |  New-Hampshire,  |  on  the  |  Public 
Fast,  I  April  19th,  1804.  [Rev.  xi.  12.]  Concord :  .  .  George 
Hough,  .  .  .  1804.      8°,  pp.  28.  —  C.     U. 

432.  —  1804,  Nov.  22.  —  David  Schuyler  Bogart,  Southampton, 
N.  Y.  The  Voice  of  Gratitude.  |  A  |  Discourse,  |  delivered  on  the 
22d  of  November,  1804 ;  |  being  the  |  Anniversary  Thanksgiving  |  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church  at  |  Southampton,  |  on  Long-Island.  [Psa.  c. 
4.]     Sag-Harbor:  .  .  Alden  Spooner,  1805.     8%  pp.  24.  — Y. 

433.-1804,  Nov.  29. —  Thomas  Baldwin,  Boston,  Mass.  The 
Happiness  of  a  People  |  Illustrated  and  Explained.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  de- 
livered before  the  |  Second  Baptist  Society  |  in  Boston,  |  November 
29th,  1804 :  |  being  the  day  of  Annual  Thanksgiving.  [Psa.  clxiv. 
15.]  Boston :  Printed  for  Adams  &  Rhoades,  .  .  .  1805.  8°,  pp.  23. 
—  Ath.     C.    M. 

434.  — 1804,  Nov.  29.-- Joshua  Cushman,  Winslow,  Me.  A| 
Discourse,  |  delivered  at  |  Winslow,  |  November  29,  1804.  |  Being  a 
day  consecrated  |  to  the  purposes  of  |  Publick  Thanksgiving  and 
Praise  \  throughout  the  |  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts.  [Psa. 
Ixxxi.  1-3.]  Boston  :  Printed  for  Adams  and  Rhoades,  1805.  8°,  pp. 
23.  — H.    M. 

435.  —  1804,  Nov.  29.  —  Nathaniel  Emmons,  Franklin,  Mass.  The 
Danger  of  Embracing  that  Notion  of  |  Moral  Virtue,  which  is  Sub- 
versive of  all  I  Moral,  Religious,  and  Political  Obliga-  |  tion,  Illus- 
trated. I  A  I  Discourse,  |  delivered  on  the  |  Annual  Thanksgiving  | 
in  I  Massachusetts,  |  November  29,  1804.  [1  Tim.  vi.  5.]  (1)  Provi- 
dence :  .  .  Heaton  &  Williams,  n.  d.  8°,  pp.  32.  —  An.  C.  Ct. 
L.     (2)  Reprinted  in  Works,  1842. 

436.  —  1804,  Nov.  29.  —  Eliphalet  Gillet,  Hallowell,  Me.  A  |  Dis- 
course I  delivered  on  the  |  Annual  Thanksgiving  |  in  |  Massachu- 
setts, I  November  29,  1804.  [Isa.  xxxiii.  6.]  ,  .  Augusta,  by  Peter 
Edes,  .  .  .  1804.    8°,  pp.  28.  —  Ath.     C.     Ct.    H.  '  L.    U. 

437.  — 1804,  Nov.  29.  — Joseph  Lyman,  Hatfield,  Mass.  The  | 
Two  Olive-Trees :  |  or  |  Zerubbabel  and  Joshua.  |  Religion  the  lead- 
ing qualification  of  Civil  Rulers  |  and  Christian  Ministere,  |  illustrated 
in  a  I  Sermon  |  preached  at  Hatfield,  Nov.  4,  1804.  |  Being  the  day 
preceding  the  choice  of  Electors  in  |  Massachusetts.  |  Also  |  God  the 
Sure  Foundation  of  Confidence  and  Joy,  |  A  |  Thanksgiving  Sermon  | 
delivered  Nov.  29,  1804.  [Zech.  iv.  11-14.  Phil.iv.  4.]  Northamp- 
ton:..  William  Butler,  1804.  8°,  pp.  14,  29.  — An.  Ath.  C.  Ct. 
U.    Y. 

438.-1804,  Nov.   29.  — Thomas  Mason,   Northfield,  Mass.     A  ( 
Sermon,  |  preached  at  Northfield,  |  on  the  day  of  |  Public  Thanks- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  577 

giving:  |  November  29,  1804.     [Psa.  xviii.  4.]  .  .  Greenfield  (Mass.), 
by  John  Denio,  1804.     8°,  pp.  16.  —  An.     Ath. 

439.  —  1804,  Nov.  29.  —  Elijah  Parish,  [Byfield]  Newbury,  Mass. 
A  I  Discourse,  |  delivered  at  |  Byfield,  |  on  the  Annual  Thanks- 
giving, I  in  the  |  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  |  Nov.  29,  1804. 
[Prov.  xxix.  2.]  (1)  Salem :  .  .  Joshua  Gushing  for  the  Subscribers, 
1805.  8^,  pp.  24.  — An.  Ath.  C.  Ct.  L.  U.  (2)  Salem:  .  . 
Joshua  Gushing,  1805.  8°,  pp.  22.  [The  second  edition  has  notes 
at  the  bottom  of  the  pages.]  —  Gt.     Y. 

440.  — 1805,  Apr.  4  and  11.  — John  Hubbard   Ghurch,   PeUiam, 
N.  H.     "  Three  unclean  Spirits  "  combining  |  men  against  Jehovah.  | 
A  I  Discourse  |  delivered  at  Haverhill  on  the  4th,  and  at  |  Pelham  on 
the  11th  of  April,  1805 ;  |  days  of  Public  |  Fasting,  and  Prayer  |  in  | 
Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire.     [Rev.  xvi.  13,  14.]     Amherst, 
N.  H.,  .  .  Joseph  Gushing,  1805.     8°.  —  New  Jersey  Hist.  Soc. 

441.  — 1805,  Apr.  4.  —  John  Foster,  Brighton,  Mass.     A  |  Sermon  | 
delivered  |  to  the  First  and  Third  Societies  |  in  |  Gambridge,  |  on  the 
Anniversary  Fast  in  Massachusetts,  |  4  April,  1805.     [Ezek.  vii.  23.] 
Cambridge :  .  .  W.    Hilliard,    1805.      8°,    pp.   26.  —  An.     Ath.     G. 
Ct.    H.    L.    M.    U.    Y. 

442.  — 1805,  Apr.  4. — Solomon  Williams,  Northampton,  Mass. 
Three  Sermons,  |  preached  at  |  Northampton,  |  one  on  the  30th  of 
March  —  the  other  two  on  the  |  Annual  State  Fast,  |  April  4,  1805. 
.  .  .  The  Civil  and  Religious  Foundations  of  the  Country  Shaking  — 

shewn    from   Psa.   Ixxxii.   5 William    Butler,    Northampton 

(Mass.),  180o.    8°,  pp.  40.— Ath.    C.     Gt.     H. 

443.  — 1805,  Apr.  11.  —  Humphrey  Moore,  Milford,  N.  H.  A  |  Dis- 
course, I  delivered  at  |  Milford,  N.  H.  |  April  11,  1805,  |  on  the  |  An- 
niversary Fast.  [Mark  iii.  24.]  Amherst :  .  .  Joseph  Gushing,  1805. 
8°,  pp.  16.  — G.    L. 

444.  —  1805,  Apr.  11.  —  Seth  Payson,  Rindge,  N.  H.  An  Abridg- 
ment I  of  two  I  Discourses,  |  preached  at  Rindge,  |  at  the  |  Annual 
Fast,  I  April  11th,  1805.  [Dan.  iv.  17.]  Keene,  N.  H.,  .  .  John 
Prentiss,  1805.     8°,  pp.  24.  —  An.     G.     N.  H. 

445.  —  1805.  —  John  Wilder,  Attleborough,  Mass.  "Fast  Sermon, 
1305,"  Hist,  of  the  Mendon  Association,  p.  140. 

446.  —  1805,  Nov.  27.  —  Theodore  Dehon,  Newport,  R.  I.     A  | 
Discourse,  |  delivered  |  in  Trinity  Church,  |  in  Newport,  |  on  Thurs- 
day,  27th   November,  1805,  |  an  appointed   day  |  of  public  Thanks- 
giving  and  Praise.     [Psa.  c.  4.]     Newport,  R.   I.,  .  .  Office  of   the 
Newport  Mercury,  1806.     4°,  pp.  14.  —  An.     Ath. 

447. —  1805,  Nov.  28.  — William  Gay  Ballantine,  Washington, 
Mass.  A  favored  Land  under  peculiar  obliga-  |  tions  to  religious 
Praise  and  Gratitude.  |  A  Sermon,  |  delivered  upon  the  |  Anniversary 
Thanksgiving-Day,  |  November  28th.  1805,  |  at  |  Washington,  Massa- 


578         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

chusetts.    [Deut.  viii.  10.]    Pittsfield :  .  .  Phinehas  Allen,  .  .  .  1806. 
8°,  pp.  15.  — U. 

448.  — 1805,  Nov.  28. —  James  Dana,   Wallingford,  Conn.     The 
Wisdom  of  Observing*  the  Footsteps  |  of  Providence.  |  A  |  Sermon,  | 
preached  at  Wethersfield,  |  on  the  |  Annual  Thanksgiving,  |  Novem- 
ber 28,  1805.     [Psa.  cvii.  43.]     Hartford :  .  .  Hudson  and  Goodwin, 
1805.    8^pp.  27.  — C.    Ct.    L.    U.    Y. 

449.  —  1806,  Nov.  25.  —  Dirck  Cornelius  Lansing,  Onondaga,  N.  Y. 
Thanksgiving  I  Sermon,  |  preached  before  |  the  Inhabitants  |  of  |  the 
Town  of  Onondaga,  |  November  25,  1806.  [Psa.  cvii.  8.]  Utica : 
.  .  Asahel  Seward,  .  .  .  1807.     8°,  pp.  23.  -  Y. 

450.  — 1807,  Apr.  9.  — Edmund  Mills,  Sutton,  Mass.  A  Dis- 
course, I  delivered  on  the  |  Annual  Fast,  |  in  |  Massachusetts,  |  April 
9th,  1807.  [Matt.  vii.  12.]  .  .  Sutton  (Mass.),  by  Se wall  Goodridge, 
1807.    8°,pp.  18.  — C.    Ct. 

451.  — 1807,  Aug.    4.  —  Joseph  Dana,   Ipswich,    Mass.      On   the 
Worth  and  Loss  of  the  Soul.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  delivered  at  |  Ipswich,  | 
on  a  day  of  prayer,  |  Aug.  4,  1807.     [Matt.  xvi.  26.]     Newburyport : 
Ephraim  W.  Allen,  1808.     8°,  pp.  23.  —  An.    Ath.     C.    L.    M. 

452.  — 1807,  Nov.  26.  —  Thaddeus  Mason  Harris,  Dorchester, 
Mass.  A  I  Sermon  |  preached  at  Dorchester  |  Nov.  26, 1807.  |  On  the 
day  of  I  Public  Thanksgiving.  [Psa.  cxxii.  6-9.]  Boston  :  .  .  Belcher 
and  Armstrong,  .  .  .  1807.     8°,  pp.  16.— An.     Ath.     Bo. 

453.-1807,   Nov.    26.— Seth   Stetson,    Plymouth,    Mass.      A| 
Thanksgiving    Sermon,  |  delivered  |  before    the   Second   Society  |  in 
Plymouth,  |  November  26,  1807.     [Psa.  cxvi.  12.]     Boston :  .  .  Lin- 
coln &  Edmands,  .  .  .  1807.     8°,  pp.  23.  —  An.     C.     Ct.     Y. 

454.-1808,  Apr.  7.  — Mighill  Blood,  Buckstown,  Me.     A  |  Dis- 
course, I  delivered  at  |  Buckstown,  |  on  the   Annual  Fast,  |  in  the  | 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  |  April   7,   1808.     [Rev.   x\iii.  4.] 
Buckstown  (Me.),  .  .  William  W.  Clapp,  n.  d.     8^  pp.  22.  —C. 

455.  —  1808,  Apr.  7.  —  John  Sylvester  John  Gardiner,  Boston, 
Mass.  A  I  Sermon,  |  preached  at  |  Trinity  Church,  |  in  Boston,  |  on 
Fast  Day,  |  April  7,  1808.  [Jonah  iii.  5.]  Boston :  .  .  Munroe, 
Francis,  &  Parker,  1808.  8°, pp.  22.— An.  Ath.  Bo.  C.  H.  M. 
N.  H.    U. 

456.-1808,  Apr.  7.  — Eliphalet  Gillet,  Hallowell,  Me.  A  |  Dis- 
course I  delivered  |  on  the  Annual  Fast  |  in  |  Massachusetts,  |  April 
7,  1808.  [Joel  ii.  17.]  Augusta:  .  .  Peter  Edes,  1808.  8°,  pp.  24. 
—  Ath.    C.    M.    U. 

457.  —  1808,  Apr.  7.  —  Joseph  Lathrop,  West  Springfield,  Mass. 
The  Signs  of  Perilous  Times.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  |  at  the  |  Pub- 
lic Fast,  I  in  West-Springfield,  April  7,  1808.  [2  Tim.  iii.  1.]  Spring- 
field :  .  .  Henry  Brewer,  n.  d.     8°,  pp.  16.  —  Ath.     C.     Ct. 

458.-1808,  Apr.  7.    Elijah  Parish,    [Byfield]    Newbury,  Mass. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  579 

Ruin  or  Separation  from  Anti-Christ.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  preached  at  By- 
field,  I  April  7,  1808,  I  on  the  Annual  Fast  |  in  the  |  Commonwealth 
of  Massachusetts.  [Rev.  xviii.  4.]  (1)  Newburyport :  .  .  E.  W.  & 
W.  B.  AUen,  .  .  .  1808.  8°,  pp.  24.  —  An.  Ath.  Bo.  C.  Ct.  H. 
U.  Y.  (2)  Portland:  .  .  .  Gazette  Office, —  Arthur  Shirley,  n.  d. 
8°,  pp.  21. —M. 

459.  —  1808,   Apr.   7.  —  Thomas  Thacher,   Dedham,   Mass.     A  | 
Sermon  |  preached  at  the  Third  Parish  in  Dedham,  |  April  7,  1808.  | 
The   day  appointed  by  His  Excellency  |  the  Governour,  for  a  day  of 
Hu-  I  miliation  and   Prayer,  through-  |  out   the  Commonwealth  of  | 
Massachusetts.     [Psa.  Ixxxi.  11,   12.]    Dedham :  .  .  H.  Mann,  1808. 
8°,  pp.  21.— An.     Ath.     C.     H.     M. 

460.  —  1808,  Sept.  8.  —  James  Inglis,  Baltimore,  Md.  A  |  Sermon,  | 
delivered  in  the  |  First  Presbyterian  Church  |  in  the  |  City  of  Balti- 
more, I  on  I  Thursday,  September  8th,  1808.  |  Being  |  a  day  of  Fast- 
ing, Humiliation,  and  Prayer,  I  appointed  by  the  |  General  Assembly  | 
of  the  I  Presbyterian  Church  |  in    the  |  United   States   of  America. 
[Isa.  Iv.  7.]     Baltimore:  .  .  Warner  &  Hanna,  1808.    8°,  pp.  13.  — L. 

461.  — 1808,  Sept.  8.  —  John  Ewing  Latta,  Newcastle,  Del.     A  | 
Sermon  |  delivered  on  the  8th  September,  a  day  |  recommended  by  | 
the     General  -  Assembly  |  of    the  |  Presbyterian     Church  |  in     the  | 
United    States,  |  to    be   set    apart  |  for  |  Fasting,    Humiliation  and 
Prayer.     [Lam.  iii.  40-42.]     Wilmington  :  .  .  Peter  Brynberg,  1808. 
8°,  pp.  24.  —  L. 

462.  —  1808,  Sept.  8.— John  Broadhead  Romeyn,  Albany,  N.  Y. 
Two  Sermons,  |  delivered  |  in  |  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  City 
of  Albany,  |  on  Thursday,  Sept.  8,  1808;  |  being  the  day  recom- 
mended I  by  I  the  General  Assembly  |  of  the  |  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States,  |  for  |  Fasting,  Humiliation,  and  Prayer.  [Isa. 
xxvi.  20,  21.]  Albany:  .  .  Backus  and  Whiting,  .  .  .  WiUiam 
Tucker,  Printer,  1808.  8°,  pp.  v,  35, 80.  — An.  Ath.  C.  Ct.  L. 
U.    Y. 

463.—  1808,  Nov.  17,  Dec.  1,  and  Dec. 8.  —  Clark  Brown,  Swanzy, 
N.  H.  The  I  Propitious  Manifestations  of  God,  |  considered  as  sub- 
jects demanding  the  Grateful  |  Homage  of  Thanksgiving,  and  as 
Excite-  I  ments  to  Devout  Adoration  and  |  Humble  Supplication.  | 
A  I  Sermon,  |  preached  |  inSwanzey,  N.  H.,  November  17th,  |  in  War- 
wick, Mass.,  December  1st,  |  in  Putney  Vt.,  December  8th,  |  on  the  | 
Annual  Thanksgivings  |  in  those  States  |  1808.  [Psa.  cxvi.  17.] 
.  Keene,  N.  H.,  .  .  John  Prentiss,  1809.     8°,  pp.  28.  —  Ct. 

464.  1808, —Nov.  30.  —  Alexander  Proudfit,  Salem,  N.  Y.  Our 
Danger  and  Duty:  |  Two  Sermons,  |  delivered  on  Wednesday,  the 
30th  day  |  of  November,  1808.  |  Being  a  day  appointed  by  the  |  Pres- 
bytery of  Washington  |  for  the  exercises  of  |  Fasting,  Humiliation, 
and  Prayer,  |  on  account  of  the  alarming  aspect  of  Divine  |  Provi- 


680        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

dence  to  our  Country.     [Jer.  v.  29.     Amos  iv.  12.]     Salem :  .  .  Dodd 
&  Rumsey,  1808.     8°,  pp.  60.  —  Ath.     H.     L. 

465.  —  1808,  Dec.  1.  —  John  Sylvester  John  Gardiner,  Boston,  Mass. 
A  I  Sermon,  |  preached  at  |  Trinity  Church,  |  in  Boston,  |  on  the  day 
appointed  for  |  Publick  Thanksgiving  |  throughout  the  State  of 
Massachusetts,  |  Dec.  1,  1808.  [Psa.  1.  14.]  Boston:  .  .  Munroe, 
Francis  and  Parker,  .  .  .  1808.     8°,  pp.  23.  —  An.    Ath.    L.    M.    U. 

466.  —  1808,  Dec.  1.  — John  Lathrop,  Boston,  Mass.  We  Rejoice 
with  Trembling.  |  A  |  Discourse,  |  delivered  |  on  the  day  of  |  Publick 
Thanksgiving,  |  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  |  Dec.  1,  1808.  [Psa. 
ii.  11.]  Boston:  .  .  Munroe,  Francis,  and  Parker,  .  .  .  1808.  8°, 
pp.  20.  — An.    Ath.     L.    M. 

467.  — 1808,  Dec.  1.  —  Jotham  Waterman,  Barnstable,  Mass. 
Thanks  to  be  Given  for  the  Lord's  Mercies,  both  in  |  Times  of  Plenty 
and  Want.  |  A  |  Discourse,  |  delivered  Dec.  1,  1808,  the  day  ap- 
pointed I  for  I  Publick  Thanksgiving,  |  by  His  Excellency  |  James 
Sullivan,  Esquire.  |  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts. 
[Psa.  cvi.  1.]  Charlestown :  .  .  Hastings,  Etheridge  and  Bliss,  1809. 
8%  pp.  15.— Bo.     Ct.     M. 

468.  — 1808,  Dec.  31.  — James  Gray,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  Present 
Duty.  I  A  Discourse,  |  delivered  on  the  31st  of  December,  1808 ;  | 
which  was  observed,  by  concert,  |  as  a  day  of  |  Public  Thanksgiving 
and  Prayer,  |  in  several  of  the  Churches  |  in  the  |  City  of  Philadel- 
phia. [Psa.  XXX.  6-12.]  Philadelphia :  .  .  Jane  Aitken,  .  .  .  1809. 
8^pp.  36.  — H.    L.    U. 

469.  — 1809,  Apr.   6.  —  Samuel  Dana,    Marblehead,  Mass.      A  | 
Sermon,  |  delivered  to  his  society,  |  April  6,  1809,  |  th»  day  of  An- 
nual Fast  I  in  |  Massachusetts.     [1  Sam.  xii.  6,  7.]     Charlestown :  .  . 
Hastings,  Etheridge,  and  Bliss,  1809.     8°,  pp.  20.  —  C. 

470.  —  1809,  Apr.   6.  —  Abiel  Holmes,  Cambridge,   Mass.      A  | 
Sermon,  |  preached  at  Cambridge  |  April  6,  1809,  |  the  day  of  |  the 
Public  Fast.     [Jer.  xi.  17-19.]     Cambridge :  .  .  Billiard  &  Metcalf, 
1809.    8°,  pp.  23.— An.     Ath.     C.     Ct.     H.    M.     U.     Y. 

471.  —  1809,   Apr.    6.  —  Thomas   Noyes,   Needham,   Mass.     Two 
Sermons,  |  delivered  |  in  the  Second  Parish  in  Needham,  |  on  the  | 
Annual  Fast,  |  April  6,  1809.     [Isa.  xxvi.  9.]    Dedham:  .  .  H.Mann, 
1809.    8°,  pp.  34  (1).  — An.     Bo.     C.     L.     N.  H. 

472.  —  1809,  Apr.  6.  —  Samuel  Spring,  Newburyport.  Mass.   Two  | 
Sermons,  |  addressed  |  to  the  |  Second  |  Congregational  Society  |  in  | 
Newburyport,  |  Fast  Day,  April  6,  1809.    [Ezek.  xxvii.  26.]    (1)  New- 
buryport: .  .  .  .  E.  W.  Allen,  1809.   8°,  pp.  31.— An.    Ath.     H.     L. 
M.   U.  Y.    (2)  Newburyport:  ....  W.  &  J.  Gilman,  .  .  .  1809.   8°, 
pp.  36.  — Bo.     C.    M. 

473.  — 1809,  Nov.  23  and  Nov.  30.  —Clark  Brown,  Swanzy,  N.  H. 
God's  Government  and  Works  |  considered  as  always  affording  sub- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  581 

jects  of  I  Gratitude  and  Joy:  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  preached  |  in  Swanzey, 
N.  H.  November  23d,  |  and  |  in  Orange,  Mass.  November  30th,  |  on 
the  I  Annual  Thanksgivings  |  in  those  States,  |  1809.  [Hab.  iii.  17, 
IS.]  Keene,  N.  H.,  .  .  John  Prentiss,  1810.  8°,  pp.  28.  —  Ath. 
C.     Ct.     L. 

474.  — 1809,  Nov.  30.  — Edmund  Foster,  Littleton,    Mass.      A  | 
Sermon,  |  preached  at  |  Littleton,  Massachusetts,  |  on  the  30th  of  No- 
vember, 1809 ;  I  being  the  |  Day  of  Annual  Thanksgiving.     [Psa.  ii. 
11.]     Amherst,  N.  H.,  .  .  Richard  Boylston,  1810.     8°,  pp.  22.  — H. 

475.  — 1809,  Nov.  30.  —  Asahel  Huntington,  Topsfield,  Mass.     A  | 
Thanksgiving  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  at  Topsfield,  |  November  30, 1809. 
[Psa.  cxliv.   11-15.]     Newburyport :   .  .  W.  &  J.  Gilman,  .  .  .  1810. 
8°,  pp.  20.  —  L. 

476.  — 1809,    Nov.   30.  — Ethan   Smith,  Hopkmton,  N.  H.     A  | 
Sermon,   |  delivered   to   |   Doctor   Spring's   Society,  |  in  |   Newbury- 
port, I   Thanksgiving   Evening,  |   Nov.  30,   1809.      [Psa.  cxix.   137.] 
Newburyport :  .  .  E.  W.  Allen,  1809.     8°,  pp.  23.  — Ath.     C. 

477.  —  1810,  Apr.  5.  —  Isaac  Braman,  Rowley,  Mass.     Union  with 
France    a    greater    evil   than   union  |  with    Britain.  |  A  |  Sermon  | 
preached  in  Rowley,  West-Parish,  |  at  the  |  Annual  Fast,  April  5th, 
1810.     [Jer.  viii.  12.]     Haverhill :   .  .  WiUiam  B.  Allen,  .  .  .  1810. 
8°,  pp.  24.  — Ath.     C.     H. 

478.  — 1810,  Apr.   5.  — William  Ellery  Channing,  Boston,   Mass. 
A  I  Sermon,  |  preached  in  Boston,  |  April  5,  1810,  |  the  day  of  the  | 
Public  Fast.    [Matt.  xvi.  3.]     (1)  Boston :  .  .  John  Eliot,  Jun.,  1810. 
8°,  pp.   23. —An.     Ath.     Bo.     C.     Ct.     H.     L.     M.     U.     Y.      (2) 
Same.  —  M. 

479.-1810,  Apr.  5.  — John  Hubbard  Church,  Pelhara,  N.  H. 
The  First  Settlement  of  New  England.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  in 
the  South  Parish  |  in  Andover,  |  April  5,  1810  ;  |  being  the  |  Annual 
Fast  in  Massachusetts.  [Psa.  cv.  44,  45.]  Sutton  (Mass.),  ....  Sew- 
all  Goodridge,  1810.     12°,  pp.  24.— An.   Ath.    C    Ct.   H.    L.   M.  U. 

480.  —  1810,  Apr.  5.  —  Joseph  Richardson,  Hingham,  Mass.     A  | 
Discourse  |  addressed  |  to  the  |  First  Parish  in  Hingham,  |  on  the  | 
Day  of  Fasting,  |  April  5,  1810.     [Joel  ii.  12.]     Boston  :   .  .  Ebenezer 
French,  1810.     8°,  pp.  20.  —  An.     Ath.     H.     L. 

481.  —  1810,  Apr.   5.  —  John   Sylvester  John   Gardiner,    Boston, 
Mass.     A  I  Sermon,  |  preached  |  at  Trinity  Church,  April  6,   1810,  | 
being  the  |  day  of  Publick  Fast.     [Isa.  i.  7.]     Boston:   .  .  Munroe 
and  Francis,  1810.     8°,  pp.  24.  —  An.    Ath.    Bo.    C.    H.    L.    M.    Y. 

482.  — 1810,  Apr.  12.  —  Drury  Fairbank,  Plymouth,  N.  H.     A  | 
Sermon,  |  delivered  at  Plymouth,  |  New-Hampshire,  |  on  |  Fast  Day,  | 
April  12,  1810.     [Isa.  xxix.   9,  10.]     Hanover  (N.  H.),  .  .  Charles 
and  William  S.  Spear,  1810.    8°,  pp.  30.  —  C.     Ct.     L. 

483.  — 1810,  Nov.  29.  —  Wilkes  Allen,  Chelmsford,  Mass.     Divine 


582         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

favors  gratefully  recollected  |  in  a  |  Discourse  |  delivered  at  Chelms- 
ford, (Massachusetts)  |  Nov.  29, 1810,  |  at  the  |  Annual  Thanksgiving. 
[Deut.  viii.  7-10.]  Cambridge  :  .  .  Milliard  and  Metcalf,  1811.  8°, 
pp.  28.  — An.    Ath.     L.     N.  H.     Y. 

484.  — 1811,  Apr.  11.  —Solomon  Aiken,  Dracut,  Mass.  The  Rise 
and  Progress  of  the  Political  Dissension  |  in  the  United  JStates.  A  | 
Sermon,  |  preached  in  Dracutt,  May  11,  1811,  |  it  being  the  |  Annual 
Fast.  [Numb,  xxxii.  55.]  (1)  Haverhill :  .  .  .  .  William  B.  Allen, 
1811.  8°,  pp.  22.  — C.  H.  L.  N.  H.  (2)  Same.  — L.  H.  [The 
second  edition  has  April  11th,  the  correct  date,  and  another  lining.] 

485.  — 1811,   Apr.  11.  —  Samuel  Austin,  Worcester,  Mass.     A  | 
Sermon,  |  preached  at  Worcester,  |  on   the  |  Annual  Fast,  April  11, 
1811.     [Isa.  iii.  9.]     Worcester:  .  .  Isaac  Sturtevant,   1811.     8°,  pp. 
32.  — An.    Ath.    C.    H.    L.    U.    Y. 

486.-1811,  Apr.   11.  — John  Foster,  Brighton,  Mass.     A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  preached  in  Cambridge  and  Brighton,  |  April  11,  1811,  |  the  | 
Anniversary  Fast  |  in  Massachusetts.    [Isa.  Iviii.  1.]    Cambridge  :  .  . 
Billiard  and  Metcalf,  1811.     8°,  pp.  31.  — An.    Ath.     C.     Ct.    H. 
L.    N.  H.    U.    Y. 

487.  — 1811,  Apr.  11.  —  Eliphalet  Gillet,  Hallowell,  Me.  The 
Patriot.  I  A  |  Sermon  |  delivered  |  on  the  |  Annual  Fast  |  in  |  Massa- 
chusetts, I  April  11,  1811.  [Psa.  cxxxvii.  5,  6.]  Hallowell:  .  .  N. 
Cheever,  1811.     8%pp.  20.  — An.     Ath.     H.     M.     U. 

488.  —  1811,  Apr.  11.  —  Joseph  Lathrop,  West  Springfield,  Mass. 
The  I  Prophecy  |  of  |  Daniel,  |  Relating  to  the  Time  of  the  End,  | 
Opened,  Applied  and  Improved,  |  in  Two  Discourses  |  delivered  on 
a  I  Publick  Fast,  |  April  11, 1811.  [Dan.  xii.  10.]  Springfield  (Mass.), 
..  Thomas  Dickman,  1811.  8°,  pp.  18,  32.  —  An.  Ath.  C.  Ct.  H. 
L.    M.    U.    Y. 

489.  — 1811,  Apr.  11.  — Elijah  Parish,  [Byfield]  Newbury,  Mass. 
A  Sermon,  |  preached  at  Byfield,  |  on  the  |  Annual  Fast,  |  April  11, 
1811.  [Rev.  xviii.  2.]  (1)  Newburyport :  .  .  E.W.Allen,  .  .  .  1811. 
8°,  pp.  30.  — An.  C.  Ct.  H.  L.  M.  U.  Y.  (2)  Boston:.. 
B.True,  .  .  .  1811.  8^^,  pp.  22.  —  An  Ath.  C.  Ct.  [The  so-called 
"  Curiosity  "  edition,  with  this  note  on  the  title-page  :  "  The  follow- 
ing Sermon  (as  it  is  called)  is  reprinted  by  subscriptions  made  by 
Republicans  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  the  public  more  generally  to 
obtain  and  read  it,  that  they  may  be  convinced  of  the  astonishing 
depravity  of  a  Man,  who  professes  to  be  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel."] 

490.-1811,  Nov.  21.  — Festus  Foster,  Petersham,  Mass.  The 
Watchman's  Warning  to  the  House  of  Israel.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  deliv- 
ered before  the  Congregation  in  |  Petersham,  November  21,  1811,  | 
being  the  day  appointed  for  |  Thanksgiving  |  throughout  the  Com- 
monwealth. [Ezek.  xxxiii.  6,  7.]  From  the  Press  of  Isaiah  Thomas, 
Jun.  —  Worcester :  Isaac  Sturtevant,  Printer,  1811.  8°,  pp.  24.  —  An. 
Ct.    H.    L. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY,  583 

491.  — 1811,  Nov.  21.  —  Eliphalet  Gillet,  HaUowell,  Me.     A  |  Dis- 
course I  delivered  |  at  |  Hallowell,  |  on  the  |  Annual  Thanksgiving  | 
in  I  Massachusetts,  |  Nov.  21,  1811.     [Psa.  xcvii.  1.]     Hallowell :   .  . 
N.  Cheever,  1811.     8°,  pp.  20.  —  L.     M.     U. 

492. —  1811,    Nov.   21.— Nathan    Holman,    East    Attleborough, 
Mass.     A  I  Sermon,  |  delivered  at  |  Attleborough,    East   Precinct,  | 
November  21st,  1811  ;  |  being  the  |  Anniversary  Thanksgiving  |  in  | 
Massachusetts.    [Psa.  ii.  11.]    Providence:  ....  Dunham  &  Hawkins, 
1812.     8°,  pp.  22.  — C. 

493. — 1811,  Nov.  21.  —  John  Lathrop,  Boston,  Mass.  Peace  and 
War.  I  In  relation  to  the  United  States  of  America.  |  A  Discourse,  | 
delivered  in  Boston,  |  on  the  |  day  of  Public  Thanksgiving  |  in  the 
State  of  Massachusetts,  |  November  21,  1811.  [Psa.  Ixviii.  30.]  Bos- 
ton :  ....  J.  W.  Burditt  and  Co.  .  .  J.  Belcher,  Printer,  1811.  8^, 
pp.  18.  — Ath.    Bo.     C.     Ct.    L.    U.     Y. 

494.  —  1812,  Mar.  1 1.  —  Donald  McLeod. 

A  I  Sermon,  |  preached  |  in  the  |  Presbyterian  Church  of  Edisto- 
Island,  I  on  the  eleventh  of  March,  1812,  |  being  the  day  appointed  | 
for  I  Religious  Reflection,  Humiliation  and  Prayer,  |  by  the  Procla- 
mation of  His  Excellency  |  Henry  Middleton,  |  Governor  of  the  State 
of  South-Carolina.  [2  Chron.  vii.  14.]  Charleston :  .  .  E.  Morford, 
Willington  &  Co.,  .  .  .  1812.     8°,  pp.  68.  — Y. 

495.  — 1812,  Apr.  9.  —  John  Sylvester  John  Gardiner,  Boston, 
Mass.  A  I  Discourse.  |  delivered  |  at  Trinity  Church,  Boston,  April 
9,  1812,  I  on  the  day  of  |  Publick  Fast.  [Num.  xxxii.  6.]  Boston:  .  . 
Munroe  and  Francis,  1812.     8°,  pp.  19.  — An.     Ath.     Bo.     H. 

496.  —  1812,  Apr.  9.  — James  Miltimore,  Newbury,  Mass.     Two  | 
Discourses  |  delivered  |  at  Belle-ville,  April  9,  1812,  |  on  |  occasion  of 
the  Annual  Fast  |  in  the  |  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts.     [Psa. 
Ixxxi.  18,  14,  16.]     Haverhill,   Mass. :   .  .  W.  B.  &  H.  G.  Allen,  for 
E.  W.  Allen,  Newburyport,  1812.     8°,  pp.  22.  —  Y. 

497.-1812,  Apr.  9.  — Thomas   Thacher,   Dedham,  Mass.     A| 
Discourse  |  delivered  |  on  the  day  of  |  Public  Fast,  |  April  9,  1812. 
[Matt.  xxiv.   12.]     Dedham:   .  .  Herman   Mann,   1812.     8^",  pp.  23. 
Ath.     Bo.     H. 

498.  — 1812,  Apr.  9.  —  Otis  Thompson,  Rehoboth,  Mass.  "  Signs 
of  the  Times"  :  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  preached  at  Attleborough,  West  Par- 
ish, I  on  the  I  Annual  Fast  in  Massachusetts,  |  April  9th,  A.  D.  1812. 
[Matt.  xvi.  8.]  Providence  :  Printed  at  the  American  Office,  by 
David  Hawkins,  Jun.,  1812.     8°,  pp.  23.  —  Ath.     C.     L. 

499.  —  1812,   July  23.  —  Samuel  Austin,  Worcester,  Mass.     A  | 
Sermon,  |  preached  in  |  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  |  on  the  occasion 
of  the  I  Special  Fast,  |  July  28d,  1812.     [Jer.  xviii.  7,  8.]     Printed  at 
Worcester,  by  Isaac  Sturtevant,  1812.     8°,  pp.  28.  —  An.     Ath.     Bo. 
C.    Ct.    L.    M.    U.    Y. 


584         FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

500.  — 1812,  July  23.  —  Titus  Theodore  Barton,  Fitehburg,  Mass. 
A  I  Fast  Sermon,  |  preached  at  Fitchburg-,  |  July  23,  1812.  [Mark 
iii.  24.]  Leominster,  Mass. :  .  .  Salmon  Wilder,  1812.  8^,  pp.  24.  — 
An.     C.     Ct.     H.    M. 

501.  — 1812,    July   23.— Francis   Brown,    North- Yarmouth,   Me. 
A  I  Sermon,  |  delivered   July   23,    1812,  |  on   occasion   of    the   State 
Fast,  I  appointed    in    consequence    of  |  the  |  Declaration    of    War  | 
against   Great   Britain.      [Zeph.   iii.  8.]     Portland :  .  .  Hyde,   Lord 
and  Co.,  1812.     8°,  pp.  32.  —  Ath.     Bo.     C.    U. 

502. —  1812,  July  23.  — Jacob  Catlin,  New  Marlboro',  Mass. 
Alarm  to  the  Churches,  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  preached  at  New-Marl- 
borough,  I  South  Parish,  |  July  23,  1S12 ;  |  being  a  Day  of  Fasting 
and  Prayer,  |  occasioned  by  the  |  Declaration  of  War  against  Great-  | 
Britain.  [Hosea  xiii.  9.]  StockbridgQ :  .  .  H.  Willard,  1812.  8°, 
pp.  16.  —  C.     Ct.     L. 

503.  — 1812,  July  23.  —  William  Ellery  Channing,  Boston,  Mass. 
A  I  Sermon,  |  preached  in  Boston,  July  23,  1812,  |  the  day  of  the  | 
Publick  Fast,  |  appointed  by  the  Executive  of  the  |  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts,  |  in  consequence  of  |  the  Declaration  of  War  against  | 
Great  Britain.  [Luke  xix.  41,  42.]  3oston :  .  .  Greenough  and 
Stebbins,  1812.  8°,  pp.  20.  — An.  Ath.  C.  Ct.  H.  L.  M. 
U.    Y. 

504.  — 1812,  July  23.  — Timothy  Dwight  [Yale  Coll.]  New  Haven, 
Conn.  A  |  Discourse,  |  in  |  Two  Parts,  |  delivered  July  23,  1812,  on 
the  I  Public  Fast,  |  in  |  the  Chapel  of  Yale  College.  [Isa.  xxi.  11, 
12.]  (1)  New-Haven:  Published  by  Howe  and  De  Forest,  .  .  . 
Printed  by  J.  Seymour,  .  .  .  New- York,  1812.  8°,  pp.  54.  —  Ath.  Ct. 
H.  L.  U.  Y.  (2)  Utica:  Reprinted  by  Ira  Merrell,  1812.  8°, 
pp.  44.  —  C.  (3)  Boston  :  Published  by  Cummings  and  Hilliard,  .  .  . 
Andover  :  Printed  by  Flagg  &  Gould,  1813.  8°,  pp.  1-28.  [Printed 
with  sermon  of  Aug.  20,  1812.]  —  Ath.     H.     U. 

505.  —  1812,  July  23.  —  Ferdinand  Ellis,  Marblehead,  Mass.     A  | 
Discourse,  |  adapted    to  |  the     Present    Situation  |  of  |  our   National 
Concerns,  |  preached   at  |  Marblehead,  Mass.,  |  July   23,    1812,  |  ap- 
pointed I  by  the   Executive   of  this  Commonwealth  |  as  a  day  of  | 
Fasting,  Humiliation  and  Prayer.     [Isa.  Iviii.  4.]     Warwick  Palfray, 
Jun.,  Salem,  Printer,  1812.     8°,  pp.  20.  —  Y. 

506.  — 1812,  July  23.— Brown  Emerson,  Salem,  Mass.  The 
Equity  of  God's  Dealings  with  Nations.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  preached  |  in 
Salem,  July  23,  1812,  |  a  day  of  |  Fasting,  Humiliation  and  Prayer  | 
in  I  Massachusetts,  |  occasioned  by  the  |  Declaration  of  War  against 
Great-  |  Britain.  [Jer.  xviii.  7-10.]  Salem:  .  .  Joshua  Gushing, 
1812.    8°,  pp.  24.  —  Ath.     C.    H.    M.    U. 

507.— 1812,  July  23.— John  Sylvester  John  Gardiner,  Boston. 
Mass.     A  1  Discourse,  |  delivered  |  at  Trinity  Church,  Boston,   July 


BIBLIOGRAPHY,  585 

23,  1812,  I  on  the  |  day  of  Publick  Fast  |  in  Massachusetts,  |  upon 
the  I  Declaration  of  War  against  |  Great-Britain.  [Psa.  cxx.  7.] 
Boston :  .  .  Munroe  &  Francis,  .  .  .  1812.  8°,  pp.  19.  —  An.  Ath. 
C.     H.     L.    M.    Y. 

508.  — 1812,  July  23.  — Reuben  Holeomb,  Sterling,  Mass.  A  | 
Discourse,  |  in  two  parts.  |  Delivered  at  |  Sterling,  Massachusetts,  | 
Thursday,  July  23,  1812  |  at  the  |  State  Fast.  [Psa.  Ixviii.  30.] 
Worcester:  ..  Isaac  Sturtevant,  1812.     8°,  pp.  22.  —  An.     N.  H.    Y. 

509.  — 1812,  July  23,  and  Aug.  20.  — John  Lathrop,  Boston,  Mass. 
The  Present  War  unexpected,  unnecessary  |  and  ruinous.  |  Two  | 
Discourses  |  delivered  in  Boston.  |  The  first  |  on  the  23d  of  July, 
1812,  I  the  Fast  appointed  |  by  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts ;  |  the 
second  |  on  the  20th  of  August,  |  the  Fast  appointed  by  the  |  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  |  in  consequence  of  the  |  Present  War. 
[Jer.  viii.  15.]  Boston:  .  .  J.  W.  Burditt  &  Co.,  1812.  8°,  pp.  42. 
—  An.    Ath.     Bo.     C.     Ct.    H.    M.    U.    Y. 

510.  — 1812,  July  23.  —  Jedidiah  Morse,  Charlestown,  Mass.  A  | 
Sermon,  |  delivered  at  Charlestown,  July  23, 1812,  |  the  day  appointed 
by  the  Governor  and  Council  of  Massachu-  J  setts,  to  be  observed  in  | 
Fasting  and  Prayer  |  throughout  the  Commonwealth;  |  in  conse- 
quence of  a  Declaration  of  |  War  with  Great  Britain.  [Titus  iii.  1. 
Joel  ii.  1,  2.]  Charlestown  :  .  .  Samuel  Etheridge,  Jun'r,  1812.  8% 
pp.  32.  — An.     Bo.     C.     H.    U.    Y. 

511.  — 1812,  July  23.  — Elijah  Parish  [Byfield],  Newbury,  Mass. 
A  Protest  against  the  War.  |  A  |  Discourse  |  delivered  at  |  Byfield,  | 
Fast  Day,  July  23, 1812.  [Isa.  xxi.  11.]  (l)*Newburyport :  .  .  E.  W. 
Allen,  1812.  8°,  pp.  26.  —  An.  C.  H.  M.  Y.  (2)  Same.— An. 
U.  (3)  Stockbridge:  .  .  E.  Kingsely,  H.  WiUard's  Print,  1812.  8°, 
pp.  28.  — L. 

512.-1812,  July  23.  — Nathan  Perkms,  West  Hartford,  Conn. 
The  National  Sins,  and  National  Punishment  in  |  the  Recently  De- 
clared War ;  |  considered,  in  a  |  Sermon  |  delivered,  July  23,  1812,  on 
the  day  of  the  |  Public  Fast,  |  appointed  by  the  Governor  and  Council 
of  the  State  of  Connecti-  |  cut,  in  consequence  of  the  |  Declaration  of 
War  I  against  Great-Britain.  [Ezra  ix.  5,  6.]  Hartford :  .  .  Hud- 
son &  Goodwin,  1812.    8°,  pp.  30.  —  C.     Ct.    U.     Y. 

513.-1812,  July  23.  — Thomas  SneU,  North  Brookfield,  Mass. 
Repentance  and  Prayer.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  preached  in  North  Brook- 
field,  I  July  23d,  1812.  |  A  day  of  Prayer,  |  recommended  by  |  His 
Excellency  the  Governor,  |  on  account  of  the  Declaration  of  War  | 
against  England.  [Joel  ii.  17.]  Brookfield :  .  .  E.  Merriam  &  Co., 
1812.    8°,  pp.  22.  — An.     C.    Ct.    Y. 

514.  — 1812,  July  23.  — Micah  Stone,  Brookfield,  Mass.  Danger 
and  Duty  pointed  out,  |  in  a  |  Discourse  |  delivered  at  |  Brookfield, 
South    Parish,  |  July  23,  1812;  |  —the  day  of  |  Fasting,  Humiliation 


586        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

and  Prayer,  |  appointed  by  |  His  Excellency  the  Governor,  |  on  account 
of  the  distressed  and  alarm-  |  ing  state  of  the  Country.  [2  Sam.  x. 
12.]  Brookfield:  .  .  E.  Merriam  &  Co.,  1812.  8°,  pp.  22.  — An. 
Ath.    C.    M.    N.  H.    U.    Y. 

515.  — 1812,  July  23.  —  Nathan  Strong,  Hartford,  Conn.     A  |  Fast 
Sermon,  |  delivered  |  in   the  |  North   Presbyterian   Meeting   House  | 
in  I  Hartford,  |  July  23,  1812.     [Rev.  xviii.  4.]     Hartford:   .  .  Peter 
B.  Gleason  &  Co.,  1812.     8°,  pp.  19.— An.     Ath.     C.     Ct.     L.    M. 
U.    Y. 

516.  — 1812,  July  23  and  Aug.  20.  — Samuel  Taggart,  Coleraine, 
Mass.  God's  Visitation  of  Sinful  Nations.  1  Two  |  Sermons,  |  de- 
livered in  Colrain,  |  on  the  Public  Fast,  July  23,  |  and  afterwards  in 
Shelburne,  |  August  20,  1812.  [Jer.  v.  29.]  Greenfield :  .  .  Denio 
and  Phelps,  1812.    8°,  pp.  74  — Ath.     C.     Ct.     H.     L. 

517.— 1812,  July  23.  — Samuel  Walker,  Danvers,  Mass.     Two  | 
Discourses,  |  delivered  |  July  23, 1812,  |  being  the  Day  appointed  by  | 
the    Governor   of    Massachusetts  |  for  |   Fasting    and    Prayer,  |  on 
account  of  the  |  War  with  Great  Britain.     [Joel  ii.  12,  13.]     Salem : 
.  .  Joshua  Gushing,  1812.    8°,  pp.  26.  —  C.     H.    M. 

518.  — 1812,  July  23.  — Peter  Whitney,  Quincy,  Mass.  A  |  Dis- 
course I  delivered  |  in  the  morning  at  Quincy  |  and  in  the  afternoon  to 
the  I  Third  Religious  Society  in  Hingham  |  on  the  day  of  the  |  State 
Fast,  I  July  23,  1812.  [Psa.  Ixxix.  8.]  Boston:  .  .John  Eliot, 
Jun.,  1812.    8%pp.  16.  — An.    Ath.     Bo.     C.     H.     L.    M.     U.     Y. 

519. —  1812,  July  23. — Samuel  Worcester,  Salem,  Mass.  Ca- 
lamity, Danger,  and  Hope.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  preached  |  at  the  Taber- 
nacle in  Salem,  |  July  23,  1812.  |  The  day  of  the  |  Public  Fast  in 
Massachusetts,  |  on  account  of  the  |  War  with  Great-Britain.  [Psa. 
Ix.  1-4.]  Salem:  .  .  Joshua  Gushing,  1812.  8°,  pp.  24.  — C.  Ct. 
H.    U.    Y. 

520.-1812,  July  30  and  Aug.  20.  —  James  Abercrombie,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa.  Two  Sermons :  |  the  first,  |  preached  on  Thursday,  July 
30 ;  I  the  second,  |  preached  on  Thursday,  August  20 ;  1812 :  |  being 
days  of  |  Fasting,  Humiliation,  and  Prayer,  |  appointed  by  |  Public 
Authority.  [2  Chron.  vii.  14,  and  Hos.  xiii.  9.]  [Each  sermon  has 
also  a  separate  title-page.]  Philadelphia:  .  .  Moses  Thomas,  .  .  . 
J.  Maxwell,  Printer,  1812.     8^,  pp.  26,  41.  —Ath.     Ct.     L.     Y. 

521.-1812,  July  30.  — Joseph  Clark,  New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 
A  I  Sermon,  |  delivered  in  the  city  of  New-Brunswick,  |  on  Thursday, 
July  30,  1812.  I  Being  |  the  day  set  apart  by  the  General  Assembly 
of  I  the  Presbyterian  Church,  |  for  |  Fasting,  Humiliation  and  Prayer. 
[Jer.  V.  29.]    New  Brunswick :  ....  L.  Deare,  1812.   8°,  pp.  16.  —  Ct. 

522.  — 1812,  July  30.  — Stephen  N.  Rowan,  Greenwich,  N.  Y. 
The  Sin  and  Danger  |  of  |  Insensibility  |  under  the  Calls  of  God  to 
Repentance :  |  Two    Sermons,  |  delivered    in    the    Reformed    Dutch 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  587 

Church,  at  Greenwich,  |  in  the  City  of  New- York,  |  on  Thursday, 
July  30,  1812,  I  the  day  set  apart  by  the  joint  recommendation  o£ 
the  I  General  Synod  of  the  R.  D.  Church,  |  and  of  |  His  Excellency 
Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  |  Governor  of  the  State,  |  as  a  day  of  |  Fast- 
ing, Humiliation,  and  Prayer.  [Isa.  xxii.  12-14.]  New  York :  Pub- 
lished by  Whiting  &  Watson.  ...  J.  Seymour,  Printer,  1812.  8°, 
pp.33,  54.— Ct.     U. 

523.  — 1812,    July    30.  — Petrus  Van  \aierden,    CatsMU,   N.   Y. 
A  I  Sermon,  |  delivered  |  at  |  Catsldll,  |  on  Thursday,  July  30, 1812.  | 
Being  a  day  of  |  Fasting,  Humiliation    and  Prayer.     [Luke  iii.  9.] 
[Translated  from  the  Dutch.]     (1)  (2)  Albany :  .  .  Jesse  Buel, 
1813.     8°,  pp.  24.  — C. 

524.  — 1812,  Aug.  20. — James  Abercrombie,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
[See  Sermon  of  July  30,  1812.] 

525.-1812,   Aug.   20.  — Samuel  Austin,  Worcester,  Mass.     The 
Apology  of  Patriots,  |  or  |  the   heresy  of   the  friends   of  the  Wash- 
ington and  I  peace  policy  defended.  |  A  |   Sermon,  |   preached  in   | 
Worcester,    Massachusetts,  |  on    the   day   of    the  |  National   Fast,  | 
Thursday,  August  20, 1812,  |  observed  in  compliance  with  the  recom- 
mendation of  I  James  Madison,  |  President  of  the  |  United  States;  | 
and  in  consequence  of  the  Declaration  of  War  |  against  Great-Britain. 
[Acts  xxiv.  14.]     Printed   at  Worcester,  by  Isaac  Sturtevant,  1812. 
8°,pp.  32.  — An.    Ath.     Bo.     C.     Ct.     H.     L.     Y. 

526.  — 1812,  Aug.  20.— Winthrop  Bailey,  Brunswick,  Me.  Na- 
tional Glory.  I  A  |  Discourse,  |  delivered  at  Brunswick,  |  on  the  day 
of  the  National  Fast,  |  August,  1812.  [Psa.  Ixxxv.  9.]  Portland : 
.  .  Arthur  Shirley,  1812.     8°,  pp.  16.  —  C. 

527.  — 1812,  Aug.  20.  —  Joseph  Barker,  Middleborough,  Mass. 
A  I  Discourse,  \  delivered  in  |  Middleborough,  Mass.  |  August  20, 
1812,  I  being  |  the  day  of  the  National  Fast.  [Psa.  xxii.  4,  5.]  Bos- 
ton: .  .  Samuel  T.  Armstrong,  .  .  .  1812.     8°,  pp.  24.  —  C. 

528.  — 1812,  Aug.  20.  — Benjamin  Bell,  Steuben,  N.  Y.  The  | 
Difference  |  between  |  the  Present  and  Former  Days,  |  shown  in  a  | 
Discourse  |  upon  Eccles.  vii.  10,  |  delivered  at  Steuben,  August  20, 
1812,  I  being  the  day  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  I  to  be  observed  as  a  day  of  |  Fasting,  Humiliation  and 
Prayer.     Utica:  .  .  Ira  Merrell,  1812.     12°,  pp.  72.  — Ath.     C.     U. 

529.  —  1812,  Aug.   20.  —  Nathan   Sidney   Smith    Beman,    Port- 
land, Me.     A  I  Sermon,  |  delivered  at  the  Meeting  House  of  the  Sec- 
ond I  Parish  in  Portland,  |  August  20,  1812:  |  on  the  occasion  of   | 
the  National  Fast.     [Gen.  xiii.  8.]     Portland :  .  .  Hyde,  Lord  &  Co., 
1812.    8°,  pp.  16.— An.    Ath.    C.    Ct.     L.    U. 

530.  — 1812,  Aug.  20.  —  Stephen  Bemis,  Harvard,  Mass.  Two 
Discourses,  |  delivered  at  Harvard.  |  The  one  August  20, 1812,  |  the 
day  of  the  National  Fast  |  on  account  of  the  War  with  Great  Bri- 


588         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

tain.  I  The  other  May  29,  1813,  etc.  [Jer.  ii.  17.]  [National  ca- 
lamity procured  to  ourselves.]  Harvard :  .  .  Sewall  Parker,  1814. 
8°,pp.  47.  — Ath.    H.    L. 

531.  — 1812,  Aug.  20.— William  EUery  Channing,  Boston,  Mass. 
A  I  Sermon,  |  preached  in  Boston,  August  20,  1812,  |  the  day  of  |  Hu- 
miliation and  Prayer,  |  appointed  by  the  |  President  of  the  United 
States,  I  in  consequence  of  |  the  Declaration  of  War  against  Great- 
Britain.  [Acts  xxiv.  16.]  Boston:  .  .  C.  Stebbins,  .  .  .  1812.  8°, 
pp.  15.— An.    Ath.     Bo.     C.     H.     L.    M.     U.    Y. 

532.  — 1812,  Aug.  20.— John  Hubbard  Church,  Pelham,  N.  H. 
Advantages  of  Moderation.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  at  Pelham, 
N.  H.  August  20,  1812  ;  |  a  day  of  |  National  Humiliation,  |  recom- 
mended by  the  President,  at  the  request  |  of  the  |  Two  Houses  of 
Congress,  |  after  having  |  declared  War  against  Great  Britain.  [Phil, 
iv.  5.]  HaverhiU:  .  .  .  .  W.  B.  &  H.  G.  AUen,  1812.  8°,  pp.  15. 
—  Ath.     C. 

533.-1812,  Aug.  20.  —John  Cleaveland,  Wrentham,  Mass.     A  | 
Discourse  |   delivered    on    the  day  of  |  National    Humiliation    and 
Prayer,  |  August  20,  1812.     [Ezek.  xiv.  21.]     Boston :  .  .  Samuel  T. 
Armstrong,  .  .  .  1812.    8°,  pp.  20.— An.    Ath.     C.     L. 

534.  — 1812,  Aug.  20.  —  Henry  Colman,  Hingham,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  preached  in  Hingham  and  Quincy,  |  20th,  August  1812,  |  the 
day  of  I  the  National  Fast,  |  on  account  of  |  the  War  with  Great 
Britain.  [Rom.  viii.  28.]  Boston  :  .  .  Joshua  Belcher,  1812.  8°,  pp. 
21.  — An.    Ath.    Bo.    C.    H.    M.    U.    Y. 

535.  — 1812,  Aug  20,  and  1813,  Apr.  8.  — Moses  Dow,  Beverly, 
Mass.  A  I  Sermon,  |  preached  in  Beverly,  |  August  20, 1812,  |  the  day 
of  the  I  National  Fast,  |  on  account  of  |  War  with  Great-Britain ;  | 
and  again  at  |  the  Tabernacle  in  Salem,  |  April  8,  1813,  |  the  day  of 
the  I  Annual  Fast  in  Massachusetts.  [Luke  xix.  41,  42.]  Salem: 
..  Joshua  Gushing,  1813.    8%  pp.  16.  — C.     Ct.    H.    M.    Y. 

536.  — 1812,  Aug.  20.  — Timothy  Dwight,  (Yale  Coll.)  New 
Haven,  Conn.  A  |  Discourse,  |  in  two  parts  |  delivered  August  20, 
1812,  I  on  I  the  National  Fast,  |  in  the  Chapel  of  Yale  College.  [Isa. 
xxi.  11,  12.]  (1)  New-York :  .  .  J.  Seymour,  .  .  .  1812.  8°,  pp. 
60.  — C.  Ct.  H.  L.  M.  Y.  (2)  Utica:  Reprinted  by  Ira  Mer- 
rell,  1813.  8°,  pp.  48.— An.  (3)  Boston:  Published  by  Cummings 
&  HiUiard,  .  .  .  Andover,  Printed  by  Flagg  &  Gould,  1813.  8°,  pp. 
29-59.  [Printed  with  Sermon  of  July  23,  1812.]— An.  Ath.  Ct. 
H.  -  L.    U. 

537.-1812,  Aug.  20.  — Brown  Emerson,  Salem,  Mass.  The 
Causes  and  Effects  of  War.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  in  Salem, 
August  20,  1812,  I  the  day  of  |  National  Humiliation  and  |  Prayer. 
[Jer.  iv.  19.]  Salem:  .  .  Joshua  Gushing,  1812.  8°,  pp.  16.— Ath. 
C.    H.    M. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY,  589 

538. —1812,  Aug.  20.  — John  Fiske,  New  Braintree,  Mass.    A  | 
Sermon  |  delivered   at  |  New-Braintree,  |  August  20,  1812.  |  On  the 
General  Fast,  |  occasioned  by  a  |  Declaration  of  War  against  Great-  | 
Britain.     [Num.  xxiv.  10,  11.]     Brookfield  :  .  .  E.  Merriam  &  Co., 
1812.    8°,pp.  28.— An.     C.    Y. 

539.-1812,  Aug.  20.  —Jonathan  French,  North-Hampton,  N.  H. 
Sermons,  |  delivered  on  the  20th  of  August,  1812,  |  the  day  |  recom- 
mended I  by  the  |  President  of  the  United  States  |  for  |  Public  Hu- 
miliation and  Prayer.  |  To  which  are  added  |  observations  |  on 
the  I  propriety  of  preaching  occasionally  |  on  |  Political  |  Subjects. 
[2  Sam.  xxiv.  14.  Dent.  iv.  30,  31.]  Exeter:  Printed  at  the  Consti- 
tutionalist Press  by  E.  C.  Beals,  n.  d.     8°,  pp.  28.  —  C. 

540.  — 1812,  Aug.  20.— John  Giles,  Newbiiryport,  Mass.  Two 
Discourses,  |  delivered  to  the  |  Second  Presbyterian  Society  |  in  New- 
buryport,  August  20, 1812  :  |  the  day  recommended  by  |  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  |  for  National  Humiliation  and  Prayer.  [Psa. 
cvi.  24.]  (1)  Newburyport:  .  .  W.  &  J.  Gilman,  .  .  .  1812.  8°,  pp. 
20.  — M.  Y.  (2)  Newburyport.  (3)  Newburyport:  .  .  W.  &  J.  GiK 
man,  .  .  .  1812.  8<^,  pp.  20.  — An.  H.  M.  (4)  Haverhill:  .  .  W.  B. 
&  H.  G.  Allen,  1812.  8°,  pp.  28.  —  An.  Ath.  C.  H.  [Appendix. 
Copious  parallelisms  charging  the  author  with  plagiarism  from 
Thomas  Paine.]     (5)  Bridgeport,  1812.     8°. 

541.  —  1812,  Aug.  20.  —  Eliphalet  Gillet,  Hallowell,  Me.  A  |  Dis- 
course I  delivered  in  the  forenoon  at  |  Hallowell,  |  and  in  the  after- 
noon at  I  Augusta,  |  on  the  day  of  the  |  National  Fast,  |  August  20, 
1812.  [Job  xxxii.  10.]  Augusta:  .  .  Peter  Edes,  1812.  8°,  pp. 
23.  — Ath.    U. 

542.  — 1812,  Aug.  20.  —  John  Lathrop,  Boston,  Mass.  [See  Ser- 
mon of  July  23,  1812.] 

543.  —  1812,  Aug.  20.  —  John  Ewing  Latta,  Newcastle,  Del. 
A  I  Sermon  |  preached  on  the  20th  of  August,  1812,  |  a  day  recom- 
mended by  I  the  President  of  the  United  States,  |  to  be  observed  as  a 
day  I  of  Humiliation  and  Prayer.  [Isa.  xxvi.  9.]  Wilmington:  .  . 
Robert  Porter,  .  .  .  1812.     12°,  pp.  24.  —  C.     Y. 

544.  — 1812,  Aug.  20.  —  Nathaniel  Laurence,  Tyngsborough,  Mass. 
David's  crime  examined,  his  virtue  illustrated,  and  |  his  patriotick 
example  recommended,  |  in  a  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  at  Tyngsborough, 
Massachusetts,  |  on  the  late  |  National  Fast,  |  August  20,  A.  D.  1812. 
[1  Chron.  xxi.  16,  17.]  Boston:  .  .  C.  Stebbins,  .  .  .  1812.  8°,  pp. 
15.  — L. 

545.  —  1812,  Aug.  20.  —  Gershom  Clark  Lyman,  Marlborough,  Vt. 
A  I  Sermon  |  preached  at  Marlborough,  on  the  |  Public  Fast,  |  Au- 
gust 20th,  1812.  [Hos.  vii.  9.]  Brattleborough  (Vt.),  .  .  William 
Fessenden,  1812.     8°,  pp.  23.  —  C.     Ct.     N.  H.     U.     Y. 

546.-1812,  [Aug.  20].— John  Matthews,    Shepherdstown,    Va. 


590        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

"  National  Peace  and  Safety :  A  Sermon  preached  on  the  Fast  day 
appointed  by  public  authority,  1812."  —  Sprague's  Annals,  iv.  293. 

547.  — 1812,   Aug.   20.  —  Samuel  Mead,  Amesbury,    Mass.     A| 
Sermon  |  on  the  War,  |  delivered  in  Amesbury,  |  August  20,  1812,  | 
on  the  General  Fast.     [2  Sam.  xxiv.  14.]     Newburyport:  .  .  .  .  E. 
W.  Allen,  1812.    8°,  pp.  18.  —  C. 

548.  — 1812,  Aug.  20.  — Humphrey  Moore,  Milford,  N.  H.     A  | 
Discourse,  |  delivered  at  Milford,  |  August   20th,   1812,  |  the  day  | 
recommended   by  the   President,  |  for  |  National  Humiliation.    Am- 
herst, N.  H.,  .  .  Kichard  Boylston,  1812.     8°,  pp.  16.  —  Ath.      C. 
N.  H. 

549.  —  1812,  Aug.  20.  —  Reed  Paige,  Hancock,  N.  H.     Obedience 
to  the  Laws  of  Civil  Rulers,  a  Duty  |  Enjoined  in  the  Scriptures.  | 
A  I  Sermon,  |  delivered  at  |  Hancock  August  20th,  1812  ;  |  the  day  | 
recommended  by  the  President  of  |  the  United  States  |  for  |  ' '  Pub- 
lic Humiliation  and  Prayer."     [Matt.  xxii.  21.]      Concord,  N.  H.,  .  . 
I.  &  W.  R.  Hill,  1812.    8^^,  pp.  27.  —  N.  H. 

550.-1812,  Aug.  20.  — William  Parkinson,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Sermon  in  First  Baptist  Church,  N.  Y.  City,  Aug.  20,  1812,  a  Day  of 
Special  humiliation  and  prayer  on  account  of  the  Present  War.  New 
York :  .  .  John  Tiebout,  1812.    8°,  pp.  25  (1). 

551.-1812,  Aug.  20.  —  Huntington  Porter,  Rye,  N.  H.  The 
Present  Distressed  Situation  of  Our  Country,  |  and  the  Duty  of  Min- 
isters and  People  in  such  |  a  time  as  this ;  considered,  in  a  |  Sermon,  | 
preached  at  Rye,  |  August  20, 1812  ;  |  the  day  recommended  by  |  Pres- 
ident Madison,  |  for  a  |  National  Fast.  [Joel  ii.  15-17.]  Portsmouth, 
N.  H.,  Printed  at  the  Oracle  Press,  by  William  Treadwell,  n.  d.  8"", 
pp.  23.  [With  a  sermon  on  ' '  Peace  and  War "  having  a  common 
title-page.]— Ath.     L.     U.     Y. 

552.  —  1812,  Aug.  20.  —  Thomas  Prentiss,  Medfield,  Mass.    A  | 
Sermon,  |  preached  at  Holliston,  August  20,  1812,  |  the  day  of  |  Hu- 
miliation and  Prayer,  |  recommended  by  the  |  President  of  the  United 
States,  I   in    consequence   of    |  the     Declaration  of   War  |  against  | 
Great   Britain.      [Psa.   xxviii.    9.]       Cambridge :    .    ,  Hilliard    and 
Metcalf,  1812.     8°,  pp.  18.  —  An.     Bo.     C.     H. 

553.  —  1812,  Aug.  20.  —  John  Smith,  Salem,  N.  H.  An  |  Apol- 
ogy I  for  the  Friends  of  Peace,  |  in  two  |  Discourses,  [  delivered  Au- 
gust 20,  1812.  I  Being  the  day  appointed  for  Fasting  and  Prayer  | 
throughout  the  United  States,  |  on  account  of  the  |  War  with  Great 
Britain.  [Psa.  cxx.  7.]  Haverhill :  .  .  .  .  W.  B.  &  H.  G.  Allen, 
1812.    8°,  pp.  24.— Ath.     C. 

554.-1812,  Aug.  20. —Thomas  Snell,  North  Brookfield,  Mass. 
Praying  for  Rulers  a  Christian  Duty.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  preached  in 
North  Brookfield,  |  August  20th,  1812,  |  a  day  of  prayer,  |  recom- 
mended by  I  Congress  |  on  account  of  the  War  in  which  we  are  | 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  591 

involved  with  England.  [1  Tim.  ii.  2.]  Brookfield:  .  .  E.  Mer- 
riam  &  Co.,  1812.  8°,  pp.  23-43.  [With  sermon  of  July  23.]  —  An. 
C.     Ct.    Y. 

555.  — 1812,  Aug.  20.  —  Conrad  Speece,  Cumberland,  Va.  A 
Sermon  "preached  in  Cumberland,  Va.,  August  20,  1812,  the  day- 
appointed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  for  humiliation  and 
prayer."  — Sprague's  Annals,  iv.  287. 

556.  — 1812,  Aug.  20.  —  Samuel  Taggart,  Coleraine,  Mass.  [See 
Sermon  of  July  23,  1812.] 

557.  — 1812,  Aug.  20.  — Nathaniel  Thayer,  Lancaster,  Mass.     A  | 
Sermon,  |  delivered  August  20,  1812  ;  |  the  day  |  "  Of  Publick  Hu- 
miliation and  Prayer,"  |  appointed  by  the  |  National  Government,  | 
who   had   declared  |   War   against    Great-Britain.     [Jer.  iv.  19.]   .  . 
Worcester  :  by  Isaac  Sturtevant,   1812.      8°,  pp.    16.  —  An.      Ath. 
H.    L.    Y. 

558.  — 1812,  Aug.  20.  —  Otis  Thompson,  Rehoboth,  Mass.  Prayer 
for  Peace,  |  inculcated  in  a  |  Discourse,  |  delivered  |  on  the  National 
Fast,  I  August  20th,  1812.  [Psa.  cxxii.  6.]  Providence :  .  .  David 
Hawkins,  Jun.,  1812.     8°,  pp.  19.  —An.     C.    L. 

559.  —  1812,  Aug.  20.  —  Noah  Worcester,  Salisbury,  N.  H.  Abra- 
ham and  Lot.  I  A  |  Sermon,  |  on  |  the  Way  of  Peace,  |  and  |  the 
Evils  of  War.  |  Delivered  |  at  Salisbury,  in  New-Hampshire,  |  on  the 
day  of  the  |  National  Fast,  |  August  20,  1812.  [Gen.  xiii.  7-9.]  Con- 
cord (N.  H.),  .  .  George  Hough,  1812.     8°,  pp.  32.  — H.     Y. 

560.  — 1812,  Aug.  20.  —  Samuel  Worcester,  Salem,  Mass.  Courage 
and  Success  to  the  Good.  |  A  |  Discourse  |  delivered  |  at  the  Taber- 
nacle in  Salem,  |  Aug.  20,  1812,  |  the  day  of  |  National  Humiliation 
and  Prayer,  |  on  account  of  the  |  War  with  Great-Britian.  ...  [2 
Chron.  xix.  11.]  Salem:  .  .  Joshua  Gushing,  1812.  8°, pp.  32.  —  Ath. 
C.    H.    L. 

561.  — 1812,   Nov.  12.— Walter  Harris,  Dunbarton,  N.  H.     A  | 
Discourse,  |  delivered  |  at  Dunbarton,  New-Hampshire,  |  on  |  Thanks- 
giving-Day, I  November    12,    1812.     [Lam.    iii.    39.]     Concord :  .  . 
George  Hough,  1812.     8°,  pp.  18.  —  L. 

562.  —  1812,  Nov.  26.  —  Daniel  Dana,  Newburyport,  Mass.     A  | 
Sermon,  |  preached  November,  26, 1812.  |  The  day  of  |  Public  Thanks- 
giving I  in  I  Massachusetts.     [Hab.  iii.  17,  18.]     Newburyport :  .  .  . 
E.  W.  Allen,  1813.     8°,  pp.  19.  —  An.     C.     Ct.     L. 

563.  —  1812,  Nov.  26.  —  Nathaniel  Hill  Fletcher,  Wells,  Me.    A  | 
Sermon  |  delivered  on  the  26th  of  Nov.  1812,  |  the  day  of  the  |  An- 
nual Thanksgiving  |  in  the  |  State  of  Massachusetts.     [Psa.  cvi.  47.] 
Kennebunk  :  .  .  James  K.  Remich,  1812.     8°,  pp.  16.  —  N.  H. 

564.  —  1812,  Nov.  26.  —  Isaac  Lewis,  Bristol,  R.  I.  A  |  Dis- 
course, I  delivered  |  in  the  Congregational  Church,  |  at  |  Bristol,  |  on 
the  I  Public  Thanksgiving,  |  November  26,  A.  D.  1812.  [Psa.  c.  4.] 
Warren,  R.  L,  .  .  John  F.  PhiUips,  1812.   8°,  pp.  18.  — Ath.    Ct.    Y. 


592        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 

565.  —  1812,  Nov.  26.  —  Josiah  Webster,  Hampton,  N.  H.    A  | 
Sermon,  |  delivered  at  |  Newburyport,  Nov.  26,  1812.  |  On  the  evening 
of  I  Public  Thanksgiving  |  in  |  Massachusetts.     [Psa.   ii.  11.]     New- 
buryport: .  .  .  .  E.  W.  AUen,  1812.     8°,  pp.  22.  —  C.     Ct.    L. 

566. —  1813,  Feb.  16.  —  Oliver  Cobb,  Rochester,  Mass.  Two 
Sermons,  |  preached  at  Sandwich.  |  The  First,  |  February  1 6,  1813,  on 
a  I  day  of  Fasting,  |  appointed  by  the  First  Church  in  that  Town.  | 
The  Second,  |  Feb.  17,  1813,  at  the  |  installation  |  of  Rev  Jonathan 
Burr.  ...  [2  Chron.  xxv.  9.]  Boston :  .  .  .  .  Lincoln  &  Edmands, 
1813.    8°,  pp.  10,  23.  —  Ath.     C. 

567.  —  1813,  Mar.  25.  —  John  Smith,  Salem,  N.  H.  The  People  of 
God  Invited  to  Trust  in  Him  amidst  His  |  Judgments  upon  sinful 
nations.  |  A  |  Sermon  |  delivered  on  the  Annual  Fast  |  at  Salem,  N.  H. 
March  25,  |  and  |  at  the  South  Parish  in  Andover,  Mass.  |  April  3, 
1813.  [Isa.  xxvi.  20,  21.]  Haverhill,  Mass. :  .  .  .  .  W.  B.  and  H.  G. 
Allen,  1813.     8°,  pp.  20.  —  C.     H. 

568.  —  1813,  Apr.  8.  —  Joshua  Bates,  Dedham,  Mass.  Two  |  Ser- 
mons I  on  I  Intemperance,  |  delivered  |  on  the  day  of  the  Annual 
Fast,  I  April  8,  1813.  [Prov.  xx.  1.]  (1)  Boston:  ....  Samuel  T. 
Armstrong,  .  .  1813.  8°,  pp.  16,  28.  — An.  Ath.  C.  Y.  (2)  Ded- 
ham :  Printed  at  the  Gazette  Office,  1814.     12°,  pp.  18,  36.  —  H. 

569.  —  1813,  Apr.  8.  —  Moses  Dow,  Beverly,  Mass.  [See  Sermon 
of  Aug.  20,  1812.] 

570.  — 1813,  Apr.  8.— Elijah  Parish,  [Byfield]  Newbury,  Mass. 
A  I  Discourse,  |  delivered  at  |  Byfield,  |  on  the  |  Annual  Fast,  |  April 
8,  1813.  [Matt.  xxvi.  52.]  (1)  Newburyport:  .  .  .  .  E.  W.  Allen, 
.  .  .  1813.  8°,pp.  24.  — C.  Ct.  H.  L.  U.  Y.  (2)  Portland:  .  .  . 
1813.    ^°.— Ath. 

571.  — 1813,  Apr.  8.  —  Joseph  Richardson,  Hingham,  Mass.  The 
Christian  Patriot  Encouraged.  |  A  |  Discourse,  |  delivered  before 
the  I  First  Parish  in  Hingham,  |  on  |  Fast  Day,  |  April  8,  1813.  [Isa. 
Iiv.l7.]    Boston  :..  Joshua  Belcher,  1813.   8°,  pp.  22.  —  An.    C.    H. 

572.  — 1813,  Apr.  8.  —  Eliphalet  Steele,  Paris,  N.  Y.  The  Im- 
portance of  the  Church.  |  A  |  Discourse,  |  in  two  parts  ;  |  delivered  in 
Paris,  (N.  Y.)  April  8,  1813,  |  on  the  day  of  a  |  Public  Fast,  |  recom- 
mended by  the  Oneida  Association,  |  to  the  |  Churches  and  Societies  | 
■within  their  limits.  [Psa.  cv.  14,  15.]  Utica  :  .  .  Merrell  and  Camp, 
1813.    8°,  pp.  24.  — C.    Ct.    L.    U. 

573.  — 1813,  Apr.  8.  —  John  H.  Stevens,  Stoneham,  Mass.  A  | 
Discourse,  |  delivered  in  |  Stoneham,  (Mass.)  April  8,  1813.  |  Being  | 
the  Day  of  the  State  Fast.  [Judg.  v.  23.]  [Later  editions  prefix 
the  title  "  The  Duty  of  Union  in  a  Just  War  "  and  have  another  lin- 
ing.] (1)  Boston:  .  .  Watson  cfe  Bangs,  .  .  .  1813.  8°,  pp.  27.  —  An. 
C.  L.  (2)  Same.— Ath.  H.  M.  (3)  New  York :  .  .  E.  Conrad,  .  .  . 
1813.    8°,  pp.  24.   (4)  Same.  —  L.    (5)  New  Haven  :  .  .  J.  Barber  for 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  593 

E.  Bassett,  1813.  8°,  pp.  15.  — C.  Ct.  (6)  Albany:  .  .  J.  Buel, 
1814.  8°,  pp.  24.  — H.  (7)  Bennington,  Vt.,  .  .  Darius  Clark  &  Co. 
12%  pp.  22.  —  U.  (8)  Pittsfield  :  Ke-printed  by  Pbinehas  AUen,  1814. 
8°,  pp.  24.  — L. 

574.  —  1813,  Sept.  9.  —  Samuel  Cary,  Boston,  Mass.   A  |  Sermon  | 
preached  at  |  King's  Chapel,  Boston,  |  September  9,   1813,  |  the   day 
of  the  I  National  Fast.     [Psa.  cvi.  4,  5.]    Boston :   .  .  Isaiah  Thomas, 
Jun.,  1813.    8%pp.  20.— An.    Ath.   Bo.   C.   Ct.   H.    L.   M.    U.   Y. 

575.-1813,  Sept.  9.— Pliny  Dickenson,  Walpole,  N.  H.     A  | 
Discourse  |  on   the  |  Institution,    Observance,    and    Profanation,  |  of 
the  I  Sabbath.  |  Delivered  at  Walpole,  N.  H.  |  on  the  |  National  and 
State  Fast,  |  September  9,  1813.     [Ex.  xx.  8-11.]     Walpole,  N.  H., 
.  .  .  1813.    8°,  pp.  12.  —  N.  H. 

576.  — 1813,  Sept.  9.  —  John  Ewing  Latta,  New  Castle,  Del.    A  | 
Sermon  |  preached  on  the  9th   of   September,  1813.  |  A  day  recom- 
mended by  I  the  President  of  the  United  States,  |  to  be  observed  as 
a  day  |  of  Humiliation  and  Prayer.     [Rev.  xiv.  6,  7.]     Wilmington  : 
.  .  Robert  Porter,  1813.     8°,  pp.  24.      Ath. 

577.  —  1813,  Sept.  9.  —  John  Truair,  Cambridge,  Vt.    The  Alarm 
Trumpet.  |  A  |  Discourse,  |  delivered  at  Berkshire,   Sept.  9,  1813,  | 
the  day  of  the  |  National  Fast,  |  appointed  by  the  President,  on  ac- 
count I  of  I  the  War.     [Joel  ii.  1.]     Montpelier,  Vt.,  .    .    Walton  & 
Goss,  1813.    8°,  pp.  22.  —  C. 

578.-1813,  Sept.  9.  — Samuel  Whelpley,  Newark,  N.  J.  The 
Fall  of  Wicked  Nations.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  in  the  |  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  Newark,  |  September  9,  1813,  |  a  day  of  Fasting 
and  Humiliation.  [Isa.  Ix.  12.]  New  York :  .  .  Pelsue  and  Gould, 
.  .  .  1813.    8°,  pp.  24.  —  Ct.     L. 

579.  — 1813,  Nov.  11  and  25.— John  Smith,  Salem,  N.  H.  The 
triumph  of  Religion  over  Infidelity.  |  A  |  Discourse  |  delivered, 
1813,  I  Nov.  11,  in  Salem,  New-Hampshire  ;  |  Nov.  25,  in  the  East 
Parish  of  Bradford,  |  Massachusetts,  |  on  the  Public  Thanksgiving. 
[Rev.  XV.  2-4.]  Haverhill,  Mass.,  .  .  Greenough  and  Burrill,  1814. 
8°,  pp.  28.  —  L. 

580.  —  1813,  Nov.  25.  —  Nathaniel  Emmons,  Franklin,  Mass.  A  | 
Discourse,  |  delivered  November  25, 1813,  |  on  the  day  of  the  |  Annual 
Thanksgiving.  [1  Sam.  xiv.  25.]  (1)  Dedham  :  .  .  .  Gazette  Office, 
1813.  8°,  pp.  20.  — An.  C.  L.  (2)  Newburyport :..  William  B. 
Allen  &  Co.,  1814.  8°,  pp.  16.— Ath.  C.  L.  (3)  Reprinted  in 
Works,  1842. 

581.  — 1813,  Nov.  25.  —  John  Snelling  Popkin,  Newbury,  Mass. 
A  I  Sermon,  |  preached  in  Newbury,  First   Parish,  |  on  the  day  |  of 
Annual  Thanksgiving  |  in  the  j  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  | 
November  25,   1813.       [Gal.  v.   1.]      Newburyport :  .  .  William  B. 
AUen  &  Co.,  1814.    8°,  pp.  24.  —  Ath.    N.  H. 


694        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

582.  —  1814,  Apr.  7.  —  Francis  Brown,  No.  Yarmouth,  Me.     The 
Evils  of  War.  |  A  |  Fast  Sermon,  |  delivered  at  North- Yarmouth,  | 
April  7,  1814.     [Micah  iv.  3.]     Portland  :   .  .  Arthur  Shirley,  1814. 
8%  pp.  27.  — C.    H.    U. 

583.  — 1814,  Apr.  7.  — Joseph  McKean  [Har.  Coll.],  Cambridge, 
Mass.  A  Plea  |  for  |  Friendship  and  Patriotism  ;  |  in  |  Two  Dis- 
courses, I  preached  at  First  Church,  in  Boston,  |  on  Lord's  Day,  27 
March,  |  and  |  on  the  Annual  Fast,  7  April,  |  MDCCCXIV.  [Deut. 
xiii.  6.  Jer.  xxix.  7.]  Munroe  &  Francis,  Printers,  Boston,  1814.  8°, 
pp.  59(1).  — Ath.     Ct.    H.     L. 

584.-1814,  Apr.  7.  — EUjah  Parish  [Byfield],  Newbury,  Mass. 
A  I  Discourse,  |  delivered  |  at  Byfield,  |  on  |  the  Public  Fast,  |  April 
7,  1814.  [Ex.  V.  17,  18.]  (1)  Newburyport:  .  .  William  B.  Allen 
and  Co.,  1814.    8°,  pp.  24.  —  Ath.   Bo.   C.   U.   (2)  Same.  — C.   Ct.   H. 

585.  —  1814,  Apr.  7.  —  John  H.  Stevens,  Stoneham,  Mass.  The 
Duties  of  a  Fast,  in  Time  of  War,  |  illustrated.  |  A  |  Discourse  |  de- 
livered in  I  Stoneham,  (Mass.)  April  7,  1814.  |  Being  |  the  day  of  the 
State  Fast.  [Dan.  vii.  3.]  (1)  Boston :  .  .  Thomas  S.  Bangs,  .  .  . 
1814.   8°,  pp.  24.  — C.  H.    (2)Same.— An.  L.    (3)  Same.  — Ath.  C. 

586.  — 1814,  Apr.   14. — Abraham   Burnham,   Pembroke,  N.  H. 
Antichrist.  |  A  |  Discourse,  |  addressed  to  the  Congregational  |  Church 
and  Society  in  Pembroke,  |  New- Hampshire,  |  on  |  the  Annual  Fast,  | 
April  14,  1814.     [1  John  ii.  22.]     Concord  :  .  .  George  Hough,  1814. 
8°,  pp.  24.— C.    H. 

587.  — 1814,  Oct.  5.  —  Benjamin  Morgan  Palmer,  Beaufort,  S.  C. 
Gratitude  and  Penitence,  |  recommended  from  the  united  consi-  | 
deration  of  National  Mercies  and  |  Judgments.  |  A  Sermon,  |  deliv- 
ered I  in  the  |  Independent  |  or  |  Congregational  Church,  |  Charles- 
ton, South-Carolina,  |  October  5,  1814.  |  Being  a  day  appointed  for 
Humiliation,  |  Thanksgiving,  and  Prayer,  |  in  that  City.  [1  Sam.  xii. 
23-25.]     Charleston:  .  .  W.  P.  Young,  .  .  .  1814.     8°,  pp.  28.— Y. 

588.-1814,  Nov.  24.  — John  Truair,  Sherburne,  N.  Y.  A  |  Dis- 
course, I  delivered  |  at  Sherburne,  November  24, 1814.  |  Being  the  day 
of  I  Public  Thanksgiving,  |  appointed  by  Union  Association.  [Dan. 
vi.  10.]  Utica  :  Printed  ....  by  Merrell  &  Camp,  1815.  8°,  pp.  15. 
—  Ct. 

589.  — 1814,  Dec.    1.  —  Sylvester  Holmes,   New  Bedford,   Mass. 
The  I  Government  of  God  Glad  Tidings.  |  A  |  Sermon,  |  preached  on 
the  day  of  |  Public  Thanksgiving  and  Praise,  |  December  1st,  1814.  | 
From   Isaiah  lii.  7.  .  .  New-Bedford :  .  .  Benjamin  Lindsey,  1815. 
8^pp.  24  — C.    H. 

590.  —  1814,  Dec.  1.  — Jacob  Norton,  Weymouth,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  delivered  December  1, 1814,  |  on  the  |  Anniversary  Thanksgiv- 
ing I  in  I  Massachusetts.  [Psa.  cxviii.  1-4.]  Boston:  .  .  Lincoln 
&  Edmands  .  »  .  n.  d.    8°,  pp.  23.  —  L. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  695 

591.  — 1815,  Jan.  12.  —  Asa  Burton,  Thetford,  Vt.  A  |  Fast  Ser- 
mon, I  delivered  at  |  Thetford,  January  12,  1815.  |  On  the  day  ap- 
pointed by  the  |  President  of  the  United  States,  |  for  Fasting  and 
Prayer,  |  throughout  the  nation.  [Isa.  i.  5,  6.]  Hanover :  .  .  Charles 
Spear,  1815.     8°,  pp.  23.  —  Ct.     L. 

592.  — 1815,  Jan.  12.  —  Daniel  Chaplin,  Groton,  Mass.  The  Dis- 
pensations of  Divine  Providence  considered  as  |  Generally  Correspond- 
ing with  the  Moral  Character  |  of  a  Nation,  and  the  Morals  of  New 
England  at  the  |  Present  Day  briefly  compared  with  the  Morals  of  | 
our  Ancestors ;  with  some  observations  on  the  Duty  |  of  Electors,  to 
give  their  Suffrages  to  Men  of  Chris-  |  tian  Character.  |  A  |  Sermon  | 
delivered  at  Groton  Jan.  12,  1815,  |  being  the  day  of  the  |  National 
Fast.  .  .  .  [Jer.  xviii.  9,  10.]  Cambridge  :  .  .  Hilliard  and  Metcalf , 
1815.     8^pp.  12.  — C.     H. 

593.  — 1815,  Jan.  12.  — John  Foster,  Brighton,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon I  preached  in  Brighton,  |  January  12,  1815,  |  a  day  of  |  National 
Fasting  and  Prayer  |  in  the  United  States.  [Luke  xiv.  31,  32.]  Bos- 
ton:  .  .  John  Eliot,  1815.    8°,  pp.  18.  — An.    Ath.   C.   H.  L.   M.  Y. 

594.  —  1815,  Jan.  12.  —  John  Ewing  Latta,  Newcastle,  Del.     A  | 
Sermon  |  preached   on   the  |  Twelfth   of   January,    1815.  |  A  Day  | 
recommended  by  the  |  President  |  of  the  |  United  States,  |  to  be  ob- 
served as  a  day  of  |  Humiliation,   Fasting,  and  Prayer.     [2  Chron. 
xxxii.  7,  8.]     Wilmington:  ....  Robert  Porter,  .  .  .  1815.     8°,  pp. 
24.  — Ath.     M. 

595.-1815,  Jan.  12  and  Apr.  13.  —Edward  Mitchell,  New  York, 
N.  Y.  Two  Sermons.  |  On  the  |  National  Fast,  |  twelfth  of  Jan. 
1815;  I  and  on  the  |  National  Thanksgiving,  |  thirteenth  of  April, 
1815.  [Isa.  Iviii.  6  and  Psa.  xxii.  27,  28.]  New  York:  ....  Abra- 
ham Paul,  .  .  .  1815.     8%  pp.  28,  44.  —  C. 

596.  — 1815,  Jan.  12.  —  Humphrey  Moore,  Milford,  N.  H.     A  | 
Discourse,  |  delivered   at   Milford,   N.   H.  .|  January   12,    1815 ;  |  the 
day  I  appointed  by  the  |  President  of   the  United  States  |  for  |  Na- 
tional Fasting   and   Humiliation.      [Ex.  xx.  7.]  |  Amherst :  R.  Boyl- 
ston,  .  .  .  1815.     8°,  pp.  16.  — C.    H.    N.  H.     Y. 

597.  — 1815,  Jan.  12. —  Thomas  Bobbins,   East  Windsor,    Conn. 
A  I  Sermon,  |  preached  at  East- Windsor,  |  at  the  |  National  Fast,  | 
appointed  by  the  ]  President  and  Congress  |  of  the  United  States,  | 
January  12,   1815.       [2  Chron.   xv.   1,  2.]     Middletown:  Loomis  & 
Richards,  Printers,  1815.     8°,  pp.  21.  —  An.     C.     Ct.     L.     U. 

598.  — 1815,  Jan.  12.  —  James  Wakefield  Tucker,  Rowley,  Mass. 
A  I  Discourse,  |  delivered  Jan.   12,  1815.  |  On  the  |  National  Fast,  | 
at  I  the  Second  Parish  in  Rowley-     [Isa.  v.  24,  25.]    Newburyport :  .  . 
WiUiam  B.  Allen  &  Co.,  .  .  .  1815.     8°,  pp.  20.  —  Ct.     H.     L.     M. 

599.  — 1815,  Jan.  12.  —  Samuel  Walker,  Danvers,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  delivered  before   the  |  Second   Society  in  Danvers,  |  January 


596         FAST  AND    THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

12,  1815,  I  being  the  day  appointed  for  |  National  Humiliation  and 
Prayer.  [Prov.  xiv.  34.]  Salem :  .  .  Thomas  C.  Gushing,  1815. 
8°,  pp.  24.  —  Ath.     C.     H.    L. 

600.  —  1815,  Apr.  13.  —  Jesse  Appleton,  [Bowd.  Coll.]  Brunswick, 
Me.  A  I  Sermon,  |  delivered  at  Brunswick,  April  13,  1815,  |  ap- 
pointed as  a  day  of  |  National  Thanksgiving,  |  by  the  |  President  of 
the  United  States,  |  on  account  of  the  peace  recently  established  | 
between  |  this  Country  and  Great  Britain.  [Psa.  xlvi.  8,  9.]  Hal- 
lowell:  .  .  Ezekiel  Goodale,  1815.  8°,  pp.  24.  — An.  Ath.  Bo.  C. 
H.    M.    U. 

601.  — 1815,  Apr.  13.  —  Samuel  Blatchford,  Lansingburg,  N.  Y. 
A  I  Sermon,  |  delivered  to  the  |  United  Presbyterian  Congregations 
of  Lansingburgh  |  and  Waterford,  April  13,  1815;  |  being  the  day 
of  I  National  Thanksgiving,  |  directed  by  |  the  President  of  the  United- 
States,  I  and  I  the  Governor  of  the  State  of  New-York.  [Psa.  cxxxvi. 
1.]  Albany:  .  .  Websters  and  Skinners,  .  .  .  n.  d.  8°,  pp.  20. — 
Ct.     L. 

602.  —  1815,  Apr.  13.  —  Nathan  Bradstreet,  Chester,  N.  H. 
Peace.  |  A  |  Discourse,  |  delivered  in  Chester,  |  New-Hampshire,  | 
April  13,  1815,  [  being  the  day  of  |  National  Thanksgiving,  |  in  con- 
sequence of  I  the  Restoration  of  Peace,  |  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain.  [Psa.  cxx.  7.]  Concord :  .  .  I.  &  W.  R.  HQl, 
1815.    8°,pp.  15.  — L.    N.  H. 

603.  —  1815,  Apr.  13.  —Silas  ChurchUl,  Lebanon,  N.  Y.     A  |  Ser- 
mon, delivered  at  |  Lebanon,  in  Canaan,  |  April  13,  1815,  |  it  being  | 
the  Day  of  Public  Thanksgiving  |  on  account  of  the  restoration  of  | 
Peace  |  between  the  |  United  States  of  America  |  and  |  Great-Britain. 
[Psa.  1.    14.]     Pittsfield:   .  .  Phinehas  Allen,   June,   1815.     8°,   pp. 
24.  — L. 

604.  —  1815,  Apr.  13.  —  Charles  Coffin,  [Greeneville  Coll.]  Greene- 
ville,  Tenn.  A  |  Sermon,  |  delivered  in  Rogersville,  |  April  13,  1815.  | 
The  day  appointed  |  by  the  |  President  of  the  United  States,  |  as  a 
day  of  I  National  Thanks-giving  |  for  the  |  Restoration  of  Peace. 
[Psa.  cxlvii.  14.]  Rogersville  (Ten.),  .  .  Carey  &  Early,  .  .  .  1815. 
8°,  pp.  33.  — L. 

605.  — 1815,  Apr.  13.— Jonathan  Curtis,  Epsom,  N.  H.     Two  | 
Sermons,  |  delivered  |  at  Epsom,  New-Hampshire,  |  on   the  day  ap- 
pointed I  for  the  annual  State  Fast,  |  and  |  National  Thanksgiving  | 
for  Peace,  |  April  13,  1815.     [Isa.  Iviii.  6.    Isa.  xlv.  7.]     Concord :  .  . 
George  Hough,  1815.     8°,  pp.  16,  31.  —  C.     N.  H. 

606. —  1815,  Apr.  13.  —  Joshua  Cushman,  Winslow,  Me.     A  |  Dis- 
course, I  delivered  by  request,  |  to  a  Respectable  Audience  of  Liberal 
Christians,  |  assembled  at  |  Winslow,  |  from  that  and  the  neighboring 
towns,  I  April  13,  1815 :  |  the  day  recommended  by  the  President,  | 
to  be  observed  as  |  a  |  General  Thanksgiving  |  throughout  the  United 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  597 

States  I  for  the  |  Kestoration  of  Peace,  and  other  Signal  |  Blessings. 
[Psa.  Ixxv.  1.]  HaUowell:  .  .  N.  Cheever,  1815.  8°,  pp.  24.  —  An. 
Ath.     M. 

607.  — 1815,  Apr.  13.  —  Nathaniel  Emmons,  Franklin,  Mass.     A  | 
Discourse  |  delivered    on    the  |  National     Thanksgiving,  |  April    13, 
1815.     [Jer.  xxx.  21.]     (1)  Dedham :  .  .  .  Gazette  Office,  1815.     8°, 
pp.  19.  —An.     Ath.     C.     (2)  Reprinted  in  Works,  1842. 

608.  — 1815,  Apr.  13.  —  Edmund  Foster,  Littleton,  Mass.  A  |  Ser- 
mon, I  preached  at  Littleton,  April  13th,  1815 ;  |  being  the  |  day  of 
National  Thanksgiving,  |  for  the  |  Restoration  of  Peace  |  between 
the  I  United  States  of  America  |  and  |  Great  Britain.  [Psa.  xlvi. 
7-11.]     Boston:  .  .  Ezra  B.  Tileston,  1815.     8°,  pp.  16.  — An.     L. 

609.  — 1815,  Apr.  13.  — John  Henry  Hobart,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
The  Security  of  a  Nation.  |  A  Sermon,  |  preached  in  Trinity  Church, 
in  the  city  of  New- York,  on  |  Thursday,  April  13,  A.  D.  1815  ;  |  being 
the  day  appointed  by  the  |  President  of  the  United  States,  |  and  the  | 
Governor  of  the  State  of  New  York,  |  as  a  day  of  |  Thanksgiving  to 
Almighty  God  |  for  the  various  Public  Mercies  of  His  Pro\ddence, 
and  I  especially  for  the  Restoration  of  the  |  Blessings  of  Peace.  [Psa. 
cxliv.  15.]  New  York:  ....  T.  &  J.  Swords,  .  .  .  1815.  8%  pp. 
21.  — Ath.    L.    U.    Y. 

610.  — 1815,  Apr.  13.  —  Samuel  Farmer  Jarvis,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
The  I  Duty  of  Offering  unto  God  Thanksgiving.  |  A  |  Sermon,  | 
preached  in  |  St.  Michael's  Church,  Bloomingdale,  |  on  the  |  second 
Thursday  in  April,  A.  D.  1815  ;  |  the  day  appointed  by  |  the  President 
of  the  United  States  |  as  |  a  day  of  Thanksgiving  |  for  |  the  Resto- 
ration of  the  Blessings  of  |  Peace.  [Psa.  i.  14.]  New  York:  .  . 
Eastbum,  Kirk  &  Co.,  .  .  .  1815.    8°,  pp.  16.  — Y. 

611.  — 1815,  Apr.  13.  —  John  Lathrop,  Boston,  Mass.  A  |  Dis- 
course, I  delivered  in  Boston,  April  13,  1815,  |  the  day  of  Thanks- 
giving I  appointed  by  the  |  President  of  the  United  States.  |  In  con- 
sequence of  the  I  Peace.  [1  Chron.  xvi.  8,  9.]  Boston :  .  .  J.  W. 
Burditt,  1815.    8°,  pp.  28.  — An.     Ath.     Bo.     C.     Ct.    L.    M.    U. 

612.  —  1815,  Apr.  13.  —  John  Ewing  Latta,  Newcastle,  Del. 
A  I  Sermon  |  preached  at  New-Castle,  (Del.)  |  on  the  Thirteenth  Day 
of  April,  1815.  |  A  Day  |  recommended  |  by  the  |  President  |  of  the  | 
United  States,  |  to  be  observed  as  a  day  of  |  Public  Thanksgiving  and 
Praise  to  God  |  for  the  |  Restoration  of  Peace.  [2  Chron.  xx.  27-30.] 
Wilmington  :  .  .  Robert  Porter,  .  .  .  1815.     8°,  pp.  23.  —  Ath. 

613.  — 1815,  Apr.  13.— Daniel  Merrill,  Nottingham  West,  N.  H. 
Balaam  Disappointed.  |  A  |  Thanksgiving  Sermon,  |  delivered  | 
at  Nottingham- West,  |  April  13,  1815.  A  day  recommended  by  the 
National  |  Government,  in  which  to  rehearse  God's  mighty  acts,  and 
praise  |  His  name.  [Num.  xxiii.  23.]  (1)  Concord:  .  .  Isaac  &. 
W.  R.  Hill,  1815.  8°,  pp.  30.  — An.  Ct.  (2)  Concord:  .  .  Isaac 
Hill,  1816.    8°,  pp.  35.  —  An. 


598         FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS. 

614.  — 1815,  Apr.  13.  —  Edward  Mitchell,  New  York,  N.  Y.  [See 
Sermon  of  Jan.  12,  1815.] 

615.— 1815,  Apr.  13.  —  John  Morse,  Green  River,  N.  Y.  A  | 
Sermon,  |  delivered  at  |  Hillsdale,  Green-River  Society,  |  Columbia 
County,  New- York,  |  April  13,  1815,  |  it  being  a  day  of  |  Public 
Thanksgiving  |  by  order  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  |  on 
account  of  the  Restoration  of  |  Peace.  [Psa.  cxxiv.  1-8.]  Hudson : 
.  .  S.  W.  Clark,  1815.     8°,  pp.  16.  — C. 

616.  — 1815,  Apr.  13.  —  Seth  Payson,  Rindge,  N.  H.  An  |  Abridg- 
ment I  of  I  Two  Discourses,  |  preached  at  Rindge,  N.  H.  |  at  |  the 
Annual  Fast,  |  April  13,  1815 ;  |  the  same  day  being  afterwards 
appointed  by  the  |  National  Government,  to  be  observed  as  |  a  day 
of  Public  Thanksgiving,  for  |  Returning  Peace.  [Ezra  ix.  13,  14.] 
New-Ipswich,  N.  H. :  Simeon  Ide,  .  .  .  1815.     8°,  pp.  15.— Y. 

617.  — 1815,   Apr.    13.  —  John  Snelling  Popkin,  Newbury,  Mass* 
A  I  Discourse  |  delivered  |  on  the  day  of  |  National   Thanksgiving  | 
for  Peace,  |  April   13,    1815.     [Psa.  xlvi.  8,-  9.]     (1)  Newburyport: 
..  W.  B.  Allen  and  Co.,  ...  1815.    8%  pp.  24.  — Ath.    C.    H.    M. 
(2) .  Reprinted  in  Memorial,  1852. 

618.  — 1815,  Apr.  13.  — John  Smith,  Salem,  N.  H.  The  goodness 
of  God  in  restoring  peace  to  the  |  United  States.  |  A  |  Sermon  | 
preached  April  13,  1815,  |  being  |  the  day  appointed  for  thanksgiving 
throughout  the  |  United  States,  |  on  account  of  |  Peace  with  Great 
Britain.  [Psa.  cxlvii.  14.]  Haverhill,  Mass.,  .  .  Burrill  &  Tile- 
ston,  1815.     8°,  pp.  16.  —N.  H. 

619.  — 1815,  Apr.   13.  —  Otis  Thompson,  Rehoboth,  Mass.    A  | 
Sermon  |  preached  on  the  |  National  Thanksgiving  |  for  the  |  Resto- 
ration   of    Peace,  |  April  13,  1815.     [James  iv.  1.]     Providence :  .  . 
The  American  Office,  by  Goddard  &  Mann,  1818.     8°,  pp.  20.  —  Ath. 
H.    L.    N.  H. 

620.  — 1815,  Apr.  13. —  Edward  Turner,  Charlestown,  Mass. 
The  I  Substance  of  a  Discourse,  |  delivered  |  at  the  Universalist 
Meeting-House  |  in  Charlestown,  Mass.  |  April  13,  1815,  |  being  the 
day  of  I  General  Thanksgiving  |  for  |  the  Return  of  Peace.  .  .  . 
[Prov.  XXV.  25.]  Charlestown:  .  .  J.  Howe,;  1815.  8°,  pp.  16.— 
An.     L. 

621.  — 1815,  Apr.  13.  —  Alvan  Underwood,  West  Woodstock,  Conn. 
A  I  Discourse,  |  delivered  at  West  Woodstock,  |  at  the  request  of  the 
singers  of  the  parish  ;  |  April  13th,  1815.  |  The  day  recommended  for 
National  Thanksgiving  |  for  |  Peace.  [Zeph.  iii.  14,  15.]  Hartford : 
.  .  B.  &  T.  Russell,  1815.    8°,  pp.  16.  —  Ct.    U.    Y. 

622.  — 1815,  Apr.   13.  — Solomon  Williams,  Northampton,  Mass. 
Historical  Sketch  |  of  |  Northampton,  |  from   its   first   settlement:  | 
in  a  I  Sermon,  delivered  on  the  I  National  Thanksgiving,  |  April  13, 
1815.     [Deut.  xxxii.  7.]    Northampton :  .  .  .  Hampshire  Gazette  Office? 
W.  W.  Clapp  — 1815.    8°,  pp.  24.  — Ath.    Bo.    H.     L.    M. 


INDEX  OF  BIBLIOGEAPHY. 


Abbot,  Abiel,  359,  396. 

Abercrombie,  James,  338,  520,  524. 

Adams,  Amos,  132,  173,  176. 

Adams,  Eliphalet,  55. 

Adams,  William,  of  Dedham,  15. 

Adams,  William,  of  New  Loudon,  151. 

Aiken,  Solomon,  484. 

Allen,  James,  25. 

Allen,  John,  181. 

Allen,  Wilkes,  483. 

Allin,  James,  56,  63. 

Allyn,  John,  364. 

Anderson,  Rufus,  411. 

Andrews,  Jolm,  280. 

Andrews,  Samuel,  198. 

Andrews,  Samuel,  of  St.  Andrews,  N.  B., 

339. 
Appleton,  Jesse,  600. 
Appleton,  Nathaniel,  107,  143,  161,  177. 
Apthorp,  East,  156. 
Austin,  Samuel,  327,  485,  499,  525. 
Avery,  David,  221. 

Backus,  Charles,  256. 

Bailey,  Winthrop,  526. 

Baker,  Daniel,  61,  62. 

Baldwin,  Ebenezer,  189,  208. 

Baldwin,  Tliomas,  281,  376,  433. 

Ballantine,  William  G.,  447. 

Barker,  Joseph,  527. 

Barnard,  Edward,  158. 

Barnard,  John,  of  Andover,  68. 

Barnard,  John,  of  Marblehead,  50,  65. 

Barnard,  Thomas,  282,  324,  328. 

Barton,  Titus  T.,  500. 

Bascom,  Jonathan,  190. 

Bates,  Joshua,  568. 

Batwell,  Daniel,  199. 

Bean,  Joseph,  120. 

Belcher,  Joseph,  38. 

Belknap,  Jeremy,  340. 

Bell,  Benjamin,  528. 

Beman,  Nathan  S,  S.,  529. 

Bemis,  Stephen,  530. 

Billings,  William,  83. 

Blair,  Samuel,  341. 

Blatchford,  Samuel,  601. 

Blood,  Mighill,  454. 

Bogart,  David  S.,  432. 

Bracken,  John,  283. 

Bradford,  Alden,  342. 

Bradford,  Ebenezer,  284,  313. 

Bradstreet,  Nathan,  602. 

Braman,  Isaac,  477. 

Brewer,  Daniel,  59. 

Brockway,  Thomas,  235. 

Brown,  Clark,  463,  473. 


Brown,  Francis,  501,  582. 

Brown,  John,  79. 

Browne,  Arthur,  125. 

Browne,  John,  179. 

Buckmiuster,  Joseph,  236,  323,  360. 

Bucknam,  Nathan,  92. 

Bulkley,  Edward,  10. 

Burnap,  Jacob,  380. 

Bumham,  Abraham,  586. 

Burr,  Aaron,  117. 

Burt,  John,  133. 

Burton,  Asa,  591. 

Byles,  Mather,  141. 

Cabot,  Marston,  84,  86. 

Camp,  Samuel,  365. 

Caner,  Henry,  157. 

Cary,  Samuel,  574. 

Caryl,  Benjamin,  174. 

Catlin,  Jacob,  502. 

Champion,  Judah,  178. 

Chandler,  James,  171 . 

Chandler,  Samuel,  139. 

C banning,  Henry,  277. 

Channing,  William  E.,  478,  503,  531. 

Chaplin,  Daniel,  592. 

Chauncy,  Charles,  95,  98,  167. 

Checkley,  Samuel,  97. 

Cheever,  Thomas,  60. 

Church,  John  H.,  440,  479,  532. 

Churchill,  Silas,  603. 

Clark,  Joseph,  521. 

Clark,  Peter,  90. 

Clark,  Pitt,  285. 

Cleveland,  John,  533. 

Cobb,  Oliver,  566. 

Coffin,  Charles,  604. 

Colman,  Benjamin,  43, 44,  45,  58,  66,  81, 

87. 
Colman,  Henry,  534. 
Cook,  Rozel,  237. 
Cooke,  Samuel,  228. 
Coombe,  Thomas,  200. 
Cooper,  Samuel,  131. 
Cooper,  William,  58. 
Cotton,  John,  of  Halifax,  126. 
Cotton,  John,  of  Newton,  69. 
Cradock,  Thomas,  104. 
Crafts,  Thomas,  425. 
Crane,  John,  401. 
Cumings,  Henry,  170,  210,  238,  329,  366, 

405. 
Cummings,  Abraham,  881. 
Currie,  William,  105. 
Curtis,  Jonathan,  605. 
Cushman,  Joshua,  434,  606. 
Cutler,  Manasseh,  382. 


600 


FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING   DAYS. 


Dana,  Daniel,  383,  562. 

Dana,  James,  448. 

Dana,  Joseph,  286,  384,  451. 

Dana,  Samuel,  469. 

Danforth,  John,  35,  71. 

Danforth,  Samuel,  of  Roxbury,  4. 

Danforth,  Samuel,  of  Taunton,  48. 

Davenport,  John,  5. 

Deane,  Samuel,  287. 

Dehon,  Theodore,  446. 

Dexter,  Samuel,  88. 

Dickenson,  Pliny,  575. 

Dodd,  Bethuel,  322. 

Dow,  Moses,  535,  569. 

Duche,  Jacob,  201. 

Duffield,  George,  239. 

Dunbar,  Samuel,  116,  182. 

Dunn,  Thomas,  267. 

Dwight,  Timothy,  222,  504,  536. 

Eaton,  Peter,  397. 

Eckley,  Joseph,  367. 

Eliot,  Andrew,  115,  134. 

Eliot,  Jared,  101. 

Eliot,  John,  271. 

Ellis,  Ferdinand,  505. 

Emerson,  Brown,  506,  537. 

Emerson,  Joseph,  140,  168. 

Emmons,  Nathaniel,  330,  343,  385,  402, 

406,  412,  417,  435,  580,  607. 
Evans,  Israel,  223,  229,  240. 
Evans,  J.,  96. 

Fairbank,  Drury,  429,  482. 

Fish,  Elisha,  163. 

Fish,  Joseph,  119. 

Ffske,  Abel,  361. 

Fiske,  John,  538. 

Fiske,  Nathan,  183. 

Fiske,  Thaddeus,  288. 

Fitch,  James,  11. 

Fletcher,  Nathaniel  H.,  563. 

Forbes,  Eli,  144. 

Foster,  Edmund,  474,  608. 

Foster,  Festus,  490. 

Foster,  John,  441,  486,  593. 

Foxcroft,  Thomas,  121, 145. 

Freeman,  James,  331. 

Freeman,  Jonathan,  358. 

French,  Jonathan,  of  Andover,  368. 

French,  Jonathan,  of  No.  Hampton,  423, 

539. 
Frink,  Samuel,  153. 
Frisbie,  Levi,  289,  377. 

Gardiner,  John  S.  J.,  455,  465,  481, 

495,  507. 
Gardner,  Francis,  316. 
Gay,  Bunker,  259. 
Gay,  Ebenezer,  180. 
Giles,  John,  540. 
Gillet,  Eliphalet,  317,  386,  436,  456,  487, 

491,  541. 
Gookin,  Nathaniel,  72. 
Gordon,  William,  191,  192. 
Gould,  Vinson,  414. 
Gray,  James,  468. 
Gray,  Robert,  362. 


Green,  Ashbel,  290,  344. 
Green,  Jacob,  202. 

Hale,  Enoch,  426. 
Hall,  David,  146. 
Harris,  Matthias,  127. 
Harris,  Thaddeus  M.,  345,  452. 
Harris,  Walter,  387,  561. 
Hart,  Oliver,  258. 
Haven,  Jason,  128. 
Hazlitt,  William,  253. 
Hilliard,  Timothy,  184. 
Hobart,  John  H.,  609. 
Holcomb,  Reuben,  508. 
Holman,  Nathan,  492. 
Holmes,  Abiel,  291,  388,  470. 
Holmes,  Sylvester,  589. 
Hooke,  William,  2,  3. 
Hotchkiss,  Frederick  W.,  260. 
Hubbard,  William,  23. 
Huntington,  Asahel,  475. 
Huntington,  Enoch,  203. 
Hyde,  Alvau,  332. 

Inglis,  James,  460. 

Jarvis,  Samuel  F.,  610. 
Johns,  Evan,  421. 
Johnson,  Stephen,  159. 
Jones,  David,  204. 

Keith,  James,  48. 
Kendal,  Samuel,  292. 
King,  Walter,  321. 
Kirkland,  John  T.,  346. 
Kunze,  Johann  C,  241. 

Langdon,  Samuel,  137. 
Lansing,  Dirick  C,  449. 
Lathrop,  John,  193,  249,  272,  389,  466, 

493,  509,  542,  611. 
Lathrop,  Joseph,  255,  293,  334,  418,  457, 

488. 
Latta,  John  E.,  461,  543,  576,  594,  612. 
Laurence,  Nathaniel,  544. 
Lee,  Andrew,  214. 
Leland,  John,  407. 
Leonard,  Abiel,  172. 
Lewis,  Arazi,  278. 
Lewis,  Isaac,  564. 
Linn,  William,  320,  347. 
Lock  wood,  James,  155. 
Lyman,  Gershom  C,  545. 
Lyman,  Joseph,  194,  265,  437. 

Maccarty,  Thaddeus,  130, 185, 211. 

Madison,  James,  230,  294. 

Mansfield,  Isaac,  212. 

Marsh,  John,  242. 

Mason,  John  M.,  264,  295. 

Mason,  Thomas,  374,  438. 

Mather,  Cotton,  26,  27,  28,  29,  31,  33, 

40,  46,  53. 
Mather,  Increase,  8,  12,  13,  14,  17,  22, 

34,  51,  52. 
Matthews,  John,  546. 
May,  Hezekiah,  415. 
Mayhew,  Jonathan,  129, 135, 147, 154, 162. 


INDEX   OF  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


601 


McCorkle,  Samuel  E.,  296,  348. 

McFarland,  Asa,  363. 

McKean,  Joseph,  583. 

McKeen,  Joseph,  261,  349,  408. 

McKuight,  John,  297. 

McLeod,  Donald,  494. 

Mead,  Samuel,  547. 

Mellen,  John,  of  Barnstable,  273. 

MeUen,  John,  of  Sterling,  148,  298. 

Merrill,  Daniel,  613. 

Messer,  Asa,  369. 

Miller,  Samuel,  350,  375. 

Miller,  WiUiam  F.,  422. 

Mills,  Edmund,  450. 

Miltimore,  James,  496. 

Mitchell,  Edward,  595,  614. 

Montgomery,  Joseph,  205. 

Moore,  Humphrey,  443,  548,  596. 

Moore,  Zephaniah  S.,  325. 

Morrill,  Nathaniel,  73. 

Morse,  Jedidiah,  299,  351,  370,  390,  510. 

Morse,  John,  615. 

Murray,  John,  224,  243,  300. 

Norton,  Jacob,  590. 
Noyes,  Nathaniel,  250. 
Noyes,  Thomas,  471. 

Oakes,  Urian,  19. 

Osgood,  David,  244,  274,  301,  318,  352, 
391. 

Packaed,  Hezekiah,  302,  379. 

Paige,  Reed,  549. 

Paine,  Thomas,  70. 

Palmer,  Benjamin  M.,  587. 

Parish,  Elijah,  439,  458,  489,  511,  570, 

584. 
Parkinson,  William,  550. 
Patten,  William,  of  Halifax,  169. 
Patten,  William,  of  Newport,  251. 
Payson,  Edward,  74. 
Payson,  Phillips,  91. 
Payson,  Seth,  444,  616. 
Perkins,  Nathan,  512. 
Phillips,  Samuel,  75. 
Popkin,  John  S.,  581,  617. 
Porter,  David,  400. 
Porter,  Eliphalet,  245,  353. 
Porter,  Huntington,  551. 
Prentice,  Thomas,  99,  108. 
Prentiss,  Thomas,  552. 
Prince,  John,  354. 
Prince,  Thomas,  49,  67, 82,  100, 102, 103, 

112. 
Proudfit,  Alexander,  464. 

Richardson,  Joseph,  480,  571. 
Robbins,  Thomas,  597.  j 

Roby,  Joseph,  226,  269. 
Rodgers,  John,  246. 
Rogers,  John,  76. 
Romeyn,  John  B.,  462. 
Ross,  Robert,  209. 
Rowan,  Stephen  N.,  522. 
Rowland,  David  S.,  164,  186. 
Rowland,  Henry  A.,  403. 
Rowlandson,  Joseph,  16. 


Sampson,  Ezra,  206,  303. 

Seixas,  Gershom,  258  a,  355. 

Sewall,  Joseph,  57,  77,  89,  94. 

Sherwood,  Samuel,  189,  215. 

Skillman,  Isaac,  181. 

Smith,  Aaron,  111. 

Smith,  Eli,  430. 

Smith,  Ethan,  476. 

Smith,  John,  326,  553,  567,  579,  618. 

Smith,  Robert,  231. 

Smith,  Samuel  S.,  279,  304. 

Smith,   William,    123,    207,    227,    232, 

268. 
Snell,  Thomas,  513,  554. 
Speece,  Conrad,  555. 
Spring,  Samuel,  220,  266,  371,  472. 
Stearns,  Josiah,  219. 
Stearns,  William,  197. 
Steele,  Eliphalet,  572. 
Stetson,  Seth,  453. 
Stevens,  John  H.,  573,  585. 
Stillman,  Samuel,  160,  275,  392. 
Stone,  Eliab,  393. 
Stone,  Micah,  514. 
Stone,  Nathan,  149. 
Story,  Isaac,  195,  305. 
Strong,  Cyprian,  218. 
Strong,  Jonathan,  319. 
Strong,  Nathan,  225,  335,  337,  372,  404, 

515. 
Sumner,  Joseph,  398. 
Swift,  John,  152. 
Symmes,  William,  175. 

Taggaet,  Samuel,  516,  556. 

Tappan,  David,  233,  262,  306,  336. 

Taylor,  John,  373. 

Tennent,  Gilbert,  106,  110,  113. 

Thacher,  Thomas,  of  Boston,  9. 

Thacher,  Thomas,  of  Dedham,  307,  459, 

497. 
Thacher,  Thomas  C,  276. 
Thayer,  John,  356. 
Thayer,  Nathaniel,  314,  557. 
Thompson,  Otis,  498,  558,  619. 
Tomb,  Samuel,  416,  419. 
Townsend,  Jonathan,  of  Medfield,  136. 
Townsend,  Jonathan,  of  Needham,  80. 
Troop,  Benjamin,  166. 
Truair,  John,  577,  588. 
Trumbull,  Benjamin,  247. 
Tucker,  James  W.,  598. 
Tucker,  John,  122,  124,  257. 
TuUar,  Martin,  399. 
Turell,  Ebenezer,  109. 
Turner,  Charles,  234. 
Turner,  Edward,  620. 
Tyler,  John,  308. 

Underwood,  Alvan,  621. 

Van  Vlierden,  Petrus,  523. 

Wadsworth,  Benjamin,  of  Boston,  41, 

42,  47,  54. 
Wadsworth,  Benjamin,  of  Danvers,  309, 

333. 
Walker,  Samuel,  517,  599. 


602        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 


Ware,  Henry,  310. 

Waterman,  Jotham,  427,  467. 

Webb,  John,  85. 

Webster,  Josiah,  565. 

Webster,  Samuel,  187. 

Weld,  Ezra,  270,  394. 

Weld,  Ludovicus,  424. 

West,  Samuel,  252,  311. 

West,  Stephen,  409. 

Wheelock,  Eleazar,  213. 

Wheelwright,  John,  1, 

Whelpley,  Samuel,  578. 

White,  William,  254,  312,  395. 

Whiting,  Samuel,  55. 

Whitney,  Peter,  of  Northborough,  188. 

Whitney,  Peter,  of  Quincy,  518. 

Wigglesworth,  Samuel,  64,  118. 

Wilder,  John,  357,  445. 

Willard,  Joseph,  248. 

Willard,  Samuel,  6,  7,  18,  20,  21,  24,  30, 

32,  36,  37. 
Williams,  Eliphalet,  142. 


Williams,  Nathan,  263. 
Williams,  Samuel,  196. 
Williams,  Solomon,  of  Lebanon,  93,  114. 

138.  .      ' 

Williams,   Solomon,   of    Northampton, 

442,  622. 
Williams,  William,  of  Hatfield,  39. 
Williams,  William,  of  Weston,  78. 
Williston,  Payson,  428. 
Witherspoon,  John,  216. 
Witter,  Ezra,  410. 
Wood,  Samuel,  431. 
Woodman,  Joseph,  420. 
Woods,  Leonard,  378. 
Woodward,  Samuel,  150. 
Worcester,  Leonard,  413. 
Worcester,  Noah,  559. 
Worcester,  Samuel,  519,  560. 
Worcester,  Thomas,  315. 
Wright,  Eliphalet,  217. 

ZuBLY,  John  J.,  165. 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


Adams,  Rev.  Eliphalet,  318,  319. 
Adams,  President  John,  373,  375,  405. 
Adams,  Gov.  Samuel,  364-370. 
Adams,  Rev.  William,  of  Dedham,  213, 

214. 
"Admonition  to  the  Parliament,"  23, 

36,  37. 
Aiken,  Rev.  Solomon,  385. 
Ainsworth,  Henry,  views  of,  54,  57,  58, 

60. 
Allen,  Rev.  James,  181  n.,  210, 233, 272  n. 
Almanacs,  314,  315,  322,  348. 
American  Board,  383. 
Amusements,  on  holy  days,  16-27,  72, 

163  ;  on  fast  and  thanksgiving  days, 

168,  169,  172,  396,  397,  417,  424,  428 ; 

prohibited,  413-415. 
Andros,  Sir  Edmund,  228-236,  270,  271, 

447. 
Antinomian  Controversy,  114-128. 
Appleton,  Rev.  Nathaniel,  331. 
"  Assassination  Plot,"  275. 
Austin,  Rev.  Samuel,  392. 

Baldwin,  Rev.  Ebenezer,  336. 

Barnard,  Rev.  Thomas,  372. 

Barnstable,  church  at.     See  Scituate. 

Bemis,  Rev.  Stephen,  389  n. 

Bible,  Puritans  influenced  by,  40,  41. 

*'  Bishops'  War,"  154. 

Bogardus,  Dominie  Everardus,  164-166. 

"  Book  of  Sports,"  18-24,  40,  49. 

Boston,  town,  124,  148,  293,  305,  306, 
317,  333,  334,  337 ;  First  Church,  92, 
100,  101,  110,  116-128,  148,  149,  233, 
270,  281,  282,  291  ;  Second  [North] 
Church,  196,  197,  210,  211,  217,  218, 
281,  290,  291 ;  Third  [South]  Church, 
200,  218,  225,  233,  260,  269,  274,  277, 
281,  297,  317,  323-327,  333. 

Bradford,  Rev.  Ebenezer,  370-373. 

Bradford,  Gov.  William,  67,  72,  74,  97, 
98,  129,  130. 

Brewster,  Elder  William,  62,  80,  85,  86, 
104 n.,  456. 

Browne,  Robert,  views  of,  55,  56. 

Bulkley,  Rev.  Edward,  198,  199. 

Bullinger,  Henry,  views  of,  32-34,  59. 

Byles,  Rev.  Mather,  297  n. 

Calvin,  John,  views  of,  32-34. 
Canada,  conquest  of,  299-313. 
Cartwright,   Thomas,   follows    practice 

of  Calvin,  32,  37  ;    controversy  with 

Whitgift,  38. 
Carver,  Gov.  John,  456-458. 
Catechisms,  use  of,  208,  209,  219,  410. 


Channing,  Rev.  WUliam  E.,  390,  392. 

Charles  I.,  49,  147,  150,  228,  234-236. 

Charles  II.,  52,  160,  161. 

Charlestown,  church   in,  100,  101,  105. 

Chauncy,  Rev.  Charles,  301  n.,  302,  303, 
332,  334. 

Checkley,  Rev.  Samuel,  300. 

Child,  Robert,  158,  159. 

Christian  Year,  12,  16,  17,  28-39,  56,  60, 
163,  351-353,  454,  455. 

Christmas,  heathen  customs  attached 
to,  11,  12  ;  English  laws  concerning, 
13-15;  observance  of,  in  England, 
24-26 ;  at  Geneva,  33,  34 ;  Ainsworth's 
opinion  of,  57  ;  honored  in  Holland,  56- 
58 ;  fasts  on,  49,  89 ;  in  New  Nether- 
land,  163;  in  New  England,  72,  73, 
89,  227,  228,  417,  418,  454,  455. 

Church,  Captain  Benjamin,~^Dl-204, 
271-273. 

Churches,  keep  installation  fasts,  59  n., 
97,  110,  221;  appoint  fast  and 
thanksgiving  days,  56,  85,  108,  142, 
145,  156,  221-224,  228-230,  241-244, 
332  ;  religious  services  of,  51,  81,  88, 
97,  167,  168,  202,  203,  208,  209,  218. 

"  Churchman's  Apology,"  351-357. 

Clap,  Roger,  102,  104. 

Clinton,  Gov.  De  Witt,  407. 

Cogswell,  Rev.  James,  297  n. 

Colman,  Rev.  Benjamin,  296,  317. 

Comets,  influence  of,  187-190. 

Conant,  Rev.  Lawrence,  422  n. 

Concord,  church  thanksgiving  at,  198, 
199. 

Confessions,  declarations  concerning 
Divine  Providence,  41,  42 ;  holy  days, 
34 ;  occasional  fast  and  thanksgiving 
days,  55,  59  ;  of  Field  and  Wilcocks, 
36,  55. 

Congress,  Continental,  175,  339-346, 
399-402  ;  national,  403-406. 

Connecticut,  early  experiences,  129-146  ; 
first  public  thanksgiving  known  in, 
135,  136  ;  first  fast  day,  136-139 ; 
churches  appoint  days,  142,  145 ; 
orders  from  civil  authorities,  145 ; 
monthly  fasts,  157,  196,  201;  de- 
velopment of  harvest  thanksgiving 
in,  245,  246 ;  annual  fast  day  of,  251 ; 
sympathy  with  Massachusetts,  276, 
277,  300 ;  proclamations  during  the 
Revolution,  334,  341,  342  ;  Good  Fri- 
day fast  in,  347-361,  452-454;  laws 
concerning  fast  and  thanksgiving 
days,  412-415 ;  broadside  proclama- 
tions, 432,  440-442. 


604 


FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING   DAYS. 


Convocation  of  1562,  31,  32,  35. 

Cooper,  Rev.  Samuel,  311. 

Cooper,  Rev.  William,  292,  294,  296. 

Cotton,  Rev.  John,  of  Boston,  108  n., 
115-127,  159,  188,  240. 

Cotton,  Rev.  John,  of  Newton,  292-294. 

Cotton,  Rev.  John,  of  Plymouth,  202- 
204. 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  149,  155,  159, 160. 

Crops  blasted,  179,  180,  283. 

Customs  relating  to  fast  and  thanks- 
giving days,  416-429. 

Danforth,   Rev.  John,   of    Dorchester, 

260,  277,  278. 
Danforth,  Rev.   Samuel,   of    Roxbury, 

188,  189. 

Danforth,  Rev.   Samuel,    of    Taunton, 

260. 
Dawson,  Rev.  Eli,  311. 
Dexter,  Rev.  Henry  M.,  12,  71  n.,  201  n. 
Dorchester,   church  at,  100,  209,  212, 

252,  276. 
Droughts,  list  of,  319  n.  ;   fast  days  on 

account  of,  80-85,  107,  108,  146,  157, 

178,   179,  190,  191,  227,  274,  281,  293, 

306,  315,  319-327. 
Dudley,  Gov.  Joseph,  275-279. 
Dutch  customs,  in  Holland,  64,  65 ;    in 

New  Netherland,  162-176. 
Dwight,  Rev.  Timothy,  344. 

Earthquakes,  list  of,  285  n. ;  in  1638, 
136,  137;  in  1727,  285-295;  in  1744, 
299 ;  in  1755,  295-298,  300. 

Easter,  heathen  origin  of,  11,  12  ;  Eng- 
lish laws  relating  to,  13-15;  in  Hol- 
land, 56;  in  New  Netherland,  163; 
in  New  England,  227,  351-357,  415, 
454,  455. 

Edward  VL,  17. 

Eells,  Rev.  John,  312  n. 

Eliot,  Rev.  Jared,  303. 

Eliot,  Rev.  John,  159,  160,  185,  186, 
397. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  reforms  of,  16 ; 
tolerates  desecration  of  the  Sabbath, 
18 ;  opposition  to  abolishing  saints' 
days,  34,  35 ;  orders  fast  and  thanks- 
giving days,  47. 

Emerson,  Rev.  Joseph,  332. 

Endicott,   Gov.  John,  96,  97,  115,  132, 

189,  410. 

England,  holy  days  in,  11-39 ;  fast  and 
thanksgiving  days  in,  40-53,  158,  234, 
275,  311,  345;  fasts  for,  142,  144  n., 
147-161,  275,  304;  days  ordered  by, 
175,  279,  311,  312,  380. 

Episcopal  Church,  early  reforms  at- 
tempted by,  17,  18  ;  calendar  of,  28- 
32,  351-353 ;  reformed  bishops  of,  30- 
32,  35  ;  preference  for  particular  days 
of  the  week,  92,  93;  thanksgiving 
service  of,  78 ;  festivals  of,  in  New 
England,  89,  90,  227,  228,  232-236, 
347-361,  417-420  ;  relation  to  fast 
and  thanksgiving  days,  283,  284,  345- 
361,  369,  370,  414,  415. 


Fashions,  Puritan  objection  to,  115, 128. 

Fast  Days,  practice  of  (Occasional  ap- 
pointments, 40-47,  59,  60,  78,  79,  92 ; 
among  early  Christians,  44  n.  ;  in 
England,  40-53,  345  ;  among  the 
Dutch,  64,  65,  162-176;  annual  ap- 
pointment of,  44,  52,  79,239-241,  249- 
255;  services  on,  50,  51,  81,  97,  167, 
168,  208,  209,  218,  335,  415,  416 ;  day 
of  the  week  preferred  for,  92,  93,  99, 
167  ;  general  in  New  England,  173  n., 
198,  213  ;  church  appointments,  56, 
85,  108,  142,  145,  150,  221-224,  228, 
241,  411 ;  civil  authority  for,  85,  87, 
145,  223,  224,  237,  411 ;  of  religious 
bodies,  124,  215,  381 ;  of  the  Court, 
209,  277,  280,  311,  381,  382;  of  a 
private  character,  36,  221,  256-258; 
on  installation  occasions,  59  n.,  97, 
110,  221;  lecture  fasts,  302,  317; 
for  renewal  of  covenant,  207-220 ; 
monthly,  49,  59,  157,  167,  172,  174, 
196,  201  ;  national  appointments, 
339-346,  373,  375,  381,  392,  393,  399- 
409 ;  changed  to  thanksgiving  days, 
105,  106,  178,  199,  315  n.  ;  customs 
relating  to,  416-420;  Lord's  Supper 
on,  63  ;  opposition  to,  157,  200,  210, 
229,  230,  263-269;  disregarded,  148, 
149,  158,  159,  227,  234,  337,  431 ;  in- 
effectual, 126,  127,  195-197  ;  sanctity 
of,  410-416;  political  character  of, 
362-394. 

Fasting,  compulsory,  12,  14 ;  duration 
of,  12,  04,  416 ;  food  saved  by,  47  ; 
Ainswortli  and  Robinson  on,  60;  in 
New  England,  416. 

"  Feast  of  Ingathering,"  75,  76,  146. 

Feasting,  in  England,  50,  51,  65;  at 
Leyden,  63-67  ;  at  Plymouth,  73-75  ; 
in  Bay  Colony,  109,  135 ;  of  the  Scit- 
uate  Church,  88,  89 ;  development  of, 
in  New  England,  421-429. 

"  Feasts  of  Christ,"  28-37,  56-58,  454, 

Field*  John,  36,  37,  55. 

Fiske,  Rev.  Nathan,  312  n. 

Fitch,  Rev.  James,  108  n.,  193,  207-211. 

Floods,  144,  169. 

Food,  scarcity  of,  79-86, 102-109,  141, 

142,  283. 
Forward,  Rev.  Justus,  312  n. 
Foxcroft,  Rev.  Thomas,  288,  291,  292. 

Gage,  Gov.  Thomas,  335. 

Gardiner,  Rev.  John  S.  J.,  369,  384, 392. 

Geneva,  practice  at,  33,  34. 

Gerry,  Gov.  Elbridge,  384-391. 

Good  Friday,  observance  of,  in  Eng- 
land, 28-39  ;  in  Connecticut,  347-361, 
452-454  ;  in  Massachusetts,  369,  370, 
448-451;  in  New  Hampshire,  348, 
451 ;  in  New  Netherland,  163 ;  in  Vir- 
ginia, 157. 

Gookin,  Rev.  Nathaniel,  288. 

Gordon,  Rev.  William,  336,  337. 

Green,  Rev.  Ashbel,  372. 

Greeuhalge,  Gov.  Frederic  T.,  447-451. 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


605 


Griswold,  Gov.  Roger,  392. 
"  Guy  Fawkea's  Day,"  47, 48, 52, 89, 228, 
419,  420. 

Hale,  Rev.  John,  257-260. 

Hall,  Joseph,  Bishop,  57. 

Hart,  Rev.  Levi,  338. 

Hartford  First  Church,  fasts  and  thanks- 
givings of,  132,  134-136, 140-142  ;  cov- 
enanting practice  of,  207-211. 

Harvest  Festival,  at  Plymouth,  68-77  ; 
in  Bay  Colony,  103,  108  ;  development 
of,  68,  239-249,  395-409. 

Harvest  Home  of  England,  76,  77. 

Harvests,  days  relating  to,  45,  46,  70-76, 
80-86,  107,  108,  145,  146,  170,  179-183, 
283. 

Haven,  Rev.  Jason,  310. 

Henry  VIII.,  reforms  of,  16,  17. 

Higginson,  Rev.  Francis,  voyage  of,  94- 
96. 

Holmes,  Rev.  Abiel,  389  n. 

Holy  Days,  number  of,  12 ;  judicial  hol- 
idays, 14,  15,  163 ;  diminished,  16,  17, 
29. 

Hooke,  Rev.  William,  149-156. 

Hooker,  Rev.  Thomas,  views  of,  59,  60 ; 
at  Cambridge  Synod,  124  ;  removal  to 
Connecticut,  128 ;  on  immigration, 
138,  142;  sermons  of,  132,  136,  140- 
142  ;  his  death,  185. 

Hubbard,  Rev.  WiUiam,  200. 

Huit,  Rev.  Ephraim,  140  n.,  145  n.,  146. 

Huntington,  Gov.  Samuel,  350-359. 

Hutchinson,  Mrs.  Ann,  117-125. 

Hutchinson,  Gov.  Thomas,  333. 

Indians,  at  the  Pilgrim  feast,  71,  73; 
astonished  at  answers  to  prayer,  82, 
108  n.  ;  smallpox  among.  111 ;  allies  of 
English,  132,  133;  treaty  with,  140, 
141 ;  plant  corn,  145 ;  massacres  by, 
157,  165,  192-200;  killed  by  whites, 
166,  198,  199;  wars  with,  192-204; 
270-284;  299-313,  371;  observe  fast 
and  thanksgiving  days,  247  n.,  395- 
398. 

Insects,  crops  injured  by,  107,  180-183, 
228,281,321-325. 

Ireland,  fast  for,  153-156. 

Jacob,  Henry,  54,  59. 

James  I.,  issues  "Book  of  Sports,"  18- 

21. 
Jarvis,  Abraham,  Bishop,  360. 
Jay,  Gov.  John,  407  n. 
Jews,  fasts  and  feasts  of,  41,  75,  76, 146. 
Johnson,  President  Andrew,  408. 
Johnson,  Rev.  Stephen,  330. 

Kieft,  Gov.  William,  164-166. 
Knox,  John,  32,  37. 

Labor,  restrictions  of,  12,  13,  17;  pro- 
hibited on  fast  and  thanksgiving  days, 
411-415. 

Laud,  William,  Archbishop,  139,  147, 
152. 


Laws,  relating  to  holy  seasons,  13-20 ; 
appointment  of  days,  87, '88,  145;  ob- 
servance, 168  n.,  349,  410-416;  re- 
formation of  morals,  205-207,  219, 220, 
268. 

Lent,  14,  44,  60,  249,  351-354,  418. 

Lincoln,  President  Abraham,  407-409. 

Lothrop,  Rev.  John,  54,  60,  87-89. 

Madison,  President  James,  392-394, 405, 
406. 

Maine,  practice  in,  277,  379,  451. 

Mary,  Queen,  18,  46. 

Masonic  societies,  374-377. 

Massachusetts,  early  practice  in,  91,  92, 
96-101,  221-224,  237,  239-241 ;  devel- 
opment of  harvest  thanksgiving  in, 
239-241,  246-249  ;  annual  fast  day  of, 
239-241,  251-255 ;  monthly  fasts,  282 ; 
later  practice  in,  381,  381  n.  ;  Good 
Friday  fast  favored  in,  369,  370 ;  po- 
litical character  of  fast  day  services 
in,  302-394  ;  laws  concerning  fast  and 
thanksgiving  days,  411-414;  broad- 
side proclamations,  433-440 ;  abolishes 
fast  day,  446-451. 

Mather,  Rev.  Cotton,  writes  proclama- 
tions, 223,  225,  272 ;  rejected  procla- 
mations of,  253,  265-268 ;  Jiis  relation 
to  witchcraft,  257-268 ;  on  earthquake 
of  1727,  287-293 ;  sermons  of,  252,  261, 
262,  272  n.,  317,  418. 

Mather,  Rev.  Increase,  writes  proclama- 
tions, 197,  212,  215-217,  229  ;  encour- 
ages fasts,  194-198  ;  his  efforts  for  a 
reformation,  205-220;  rebuked  by 
Andros,  229,  230 ;  on  May  Day,  418 ; 
sermons  of,  209,  212,  213,  282. 

May,  twenty-ninth  of,  48,  52,  419. 

May  Day,  games  of,  20-23 ;  at  Merry 
Mount,  89,  90  ;  in  New  England,  228, 
418  ;  in  New  Netherland,  163. 

Mayhew,  Rev.  Jonathan,  297  n.,  310, 
331,  332. 

McKnight,  Rev.  John,  372. 

Michaelius,  Rev.  Jonas,  164. 

Ministers,  write  proclamations,  221-224, 
338  n. ;  make  appointments,  225,  226, 
335;  further  reformation,  205-220; 
resist  Andros,  228-230,  237,  238;  re- 
lation to  witchcraft,  256-269;  views 
on  droughts,  325-327 ;  patriotism  of, 
329-346;  preach  politics,  362-394; 
move  to  abolish  fast  day  in  Massachu- 
setts 448 

Moody,'  Rev.  Samuel,  303. 

Morris,  Rev.  Benj.  F.,  408. 

Morse,  Rev.  Jedidiah,  368-378,  392. 

New  Hampshire,  practice  in,  235,  246, 
276,  282,  301,  302,  335,  379,  380,  451 ; 
monthly  fasts  in,  282  ;  Good  Friday 
fasts  observed  in,  348 ;  laws  relating 
to  fast  and  thanksgiving  days,  412- 
414  ;  broadside  proclamations,  443. 

New  Haven  Colony,  fast  and  thanks- 
giving days  in,  157,  173, 174  ;  laws  of, 
412,  413. 


606        FAST  AND   THANKSGIVING  DAYS, 


New  Netherland,  observes  fast  and 
thanksgiving  days,  163-176. 

Newspapers  print  proclamations,  278  n., 
432,  438. 

New  Year's  Day,  163. 

New  York,  175,  307,  353,  442,  443. 

Non-conformists,  Sabbath  esteemed  by, 
12-21  ;  oppose  the  keeping  of  saints' 
days,  35-39 ;  views  of,  43,  44 ;  prac- 
tices of,  91-98. 

Norwich,  church  at,  207-209. 

Osgood,  Rev.  David,  240,  365-378. 

Parish,  Rev.  Elijah,  385-392. 

Parker,  Matthew,  Archbishop,  31,  32. 

Parris,  Rev.  Samuel,  256-259. 

Patriots'  Day,  337,  338,  447-451. 

Patten,  Rev.  William,  332. 

Peace,  thanksgivings  for,  134-136,  167, 
169,  170,  174,  192,  193,  201-204,  311, 
346,  394. 

Peirce,  Captain  William,  brings  relief, 
103-106. 

Pemberton,  Rev.  Ebenezer,  333. 

Pennsylvania,  175,  304,  353. 

Pequot  War,  123  n.,  131-136. 

Peter,  Hugh,  59,  60,  116,  118,  151,  158. 

Philip,  Indian  king,  war  with,  192-204. 

Phips,  Sir  William,  236,  237,  253,  254, 
264,  272. 

Pigeons,  183. 

Pilgrims,  fasts  of,  at  Leyden,  61-67  ; 
land  at  Plymouth,  69,  456-458 ;  early 
practices  of,  at  Plymouth,  68-90 ;  fel- 
lowship with  Salem,  97,  98 ;  sympa- 
thize with  the  Bay  Colony,  101. 

Plymouth  Colony,  development  of  har- 
vest thanksgiving  in,  242-244  ;  annual 
fast  day  of,  250,  251, 254 ;  covenanting 
fasts  in,  210,  211 ;  laws  relating  to 
fast  and  thanksgiving  days,  87,  411- 
413. 

Popham  colonists,  78. 

Prayer,  form  of,  345  n. 

Prentice,  Rev.  Thomas,  303. 

Preparatory  service,  218. 

Prince,  Rev.  Thomas,  288,  294,  297,  298, 
300-306,  323-327. 

Proclamations,  earliest  form  of,  85 ;  dis- 
tributed, 174  n.,  176,  233-235,  431; 
read  from  the  pulpit,  222 ;  broadside 
prints  of,  343,  344, 430-445 ;  reprinted, 
165-167,  170,  192,  216,  217,  231,  232, 
266-268,  330,  339,  340,  395,  396,  400, 
401. 

Prodigies,  187-189. 

Reformation,  need  of,  125,  169,  170, 177, 

178,   199;    movement    for,    205-220; 

after  the  witchcraft  delusion,  266-268 ; 

after  the  earthquake  of  1727,  289-295. 
Reformed  churches,  56,  162,  163,  168. 
Reforming  Synod,  214. 
Revolution,  American,  328-346,  399-404, 

439  440. 
Rhode  Island,  practice  in,  231,  230,  277, 

380,  381 ;  occasions  observed  by,  307, 


308,  311,  329,  332,  334,  338  ;  proclama- 
tions, 443,  444. 

Richardson,  Rev.  John,  194. 

Robbins,  Rev.  Philemon,  331. 

Robinson,  John,  views  of,  54-67,  76. 

Rowlandson,  Rev.  Joseph,  200,  201,  213. 

Roxbury,  church  at,   110,  111,  178  n., 

Russell,  Gov.  William  E.,  448,  449. 

Sabbath,  equality  of  saints'  days  with, 

13-20 ;  observance  of,  15, 19,  20,  22-24, 

168,  410,  411. 
Saints'  days,  12-24,  28-39,  57-60,  89,  90. 
Salem,  church  at,  92,  96-98,  100,  101, 

207,  228,  248  n.,  257. 
Salem  Village,  256-259. 
Scituate,  church  at,  54,  87-89,  135,  152, 

243,  250,  421. 
Scotland,  fasts    and  thanksigivings  in. 

19  n.,  32,  39. 
Scottish  church  at  Rotterdam,  58. 
Seabury,  Samuel,  Bishop,  349-359. 
Separatists,   adopt  Genevan  system,  38, 

39  ;  practices  in  England,  55,  56,  65, 

95.     See  Pilgrims. 
Sewall,  Rev.  Joseph,  291,  294,  297. 
Sewall,  Judge  Samuel,  225,  226,  247, 263- 

269,  282,  423. 
Sherwood,  Rev.  Samuel,  336. 
Ships,  thanksgiving  for  arrival  of,  109- 

111 ;   days  disregarded  by,  148,  149, 

157. 
Shrovetide,  57, 165,  228,  417. 
Sickness,  fasts  on  account  of,  100,  125, 

157,  169,  171,  183-187,  190,  274. 
SmaUpox,  95,  96,  111,  142,  143,  174,  186, 

213,  271,  273. 
Smith,  Rev.  Aaron,  322,  323. 
Smith,  Rev.  Samuel  S.,  371. 
Smyth,  John,  54,  57,  58. 
Snowstorms,  141  n.,  315-319. 
Stamp  Act,  328-333. 
States,  Southern  and  Western,  395-398, 

407,  408  n. 
Stillman,  Rev.  Samuel,  331,  368. 
Stone,  Rev.  Samuel,  132-134. 
Storms  cause  fast  days,  126,  127,  169, 

178,  315-319. 
Strong,  Gov.  Caleb,  391,  392. 
Stuyvesant,  Gov.  Peter,  168-173. 
Sullivan,  Gov.  James,  368. 
Sumner,  Rev.  Joseph,  333. 
Supernatural  phenomena,  187,  195, 199. 
Synod,  Cambridge,  135,  136 ;  Reforming, 

214-217. 

Tappan,  Rev.  David,  370,  372,  375. 

Taylor,  President  Zachary,  406. 

*'  Thanksgiving  Book,"  47. 

Thanksgiving  Days,  practice  of  occa- 
sional appointments,  40-47,  59,  60,  78, 
79,  92,  226,  247 ;  among  early  Chris- 
tians, 44  n.  ;  in  England,  40-53,  158, 
234,  275,  311 ;  among  the  Dutch,  64, 
65,  162-176 ;  annual  appointment  of, 
44,  52,  79,  89,  175,  239-249 ;  services 
on,  50,  51,  88,  167,  168,  202,  203,  357, 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


607 


415,  421^24,  427 ;  general  in  New- 
England,  135,  136,  231 ;  church  ap- 
pointments, 56,  85,  145,  221-224,  228- 
230,  241-244,  332;  civil  authority  for, 
85,  87,  145,  223,  224,  237,  411 ;  of  a 
private  character,  221 ;  monthly,  201  ; 
national  appointments,  339-344,  349, 
350,  364,  370,  393,  395-409;  changed 
to  fast  days,  292 ;  omitted,  198,  214, 
225;  on  Sunday,  78,  232-234;  disre- 
garded, 231,  232  ;  customs  relating  to, 
420-429;  sanctity  of,  410-416;  feast 
of,  50,  51,  65,  73-75,  88,  89,  109,  135, 
421-429. 

Treadwell,  Gov.  John,  383. 

Trumbull,  Gov.  Jonathan,  341,  342,  442. 

Trumbull,  Gov.  Jonathan,  Jr.,  359,  360. 

UnderhiU,  Captain  John,  132,  133,  166. 

Vane,  Gov.  Henry,  116-124,  127. 
Vermont,  343,  381,  392,  444,  451. 
Virgmia,  93,  157,  304,  3^4,  407. 

Wadsworth,  Rev.  Benjamin,  317,  318. 

Wadsworth,  Rev.  Daniel,  299,  302  n., 
303,  424. 

War  causes  fast  and  thanksgiving  days, 
46,  111,  112, 119,  123, 131-136,  147-161, 
165-167,  169-175,  192-204,  270-284, 
299-313,  328-a46,  383-394,  407-409. 

Warham,  Rev.  John,  136, 138-140, 143. 

Washington,  President  George,  349,  350, 
364,  370,  402,  403,  405. 

Westminster  "  Directory  for  Public 
Worship,"  51. 

Wethersfield,  131,  132,  140. 

Wheelock,  Rev.  Eleazar,  341. 

Wheel\*xight,  Rev.  John,  118-125. 

White,  William,  Bishop,  372. 

White,  William,  PUgrim,  456-458. 


Whitgift,  John,  Archbishop,  37,  38. 

Whitsuntide,  20,  22-24,  56,  163,  228, 
454,  455. 

Wigglesworth,  Rev.  Michael,  187,  190, 
218. 

Wilcocks,  Thomas,  36,  37,  55. 

Willard,  Rev.  Samuel,  189  n.,  206  n., 
217,  218,  233,  247,  260,  265,  274,  277, 
278 

Williams,  Rev.  Eliphalet,  296,  297. 

Williams,  Rev.  John,  277,  278,  280. 

WiUiams,  Roger,  116, 117,  165. 

Williams,  Rev,  Solomon,  312  n. 

Williams,  Rev.  William,  294. 

Wilson,  Rev.  John,  106  n.,108n.,  110, 
117. 

Windsor,  settlement  of,  129-131 ;  fast 
and  thanksgiving  days  of,  134-140, 
142-144. 

Winslow,  Gov.  Edward,  70,  71,  79,  101. 

Winslow,  Gov.  Josiah,  193. 

Winthrop,  Gov.  John,  voyage  of,  98,  99  ; 
makes  first  appointment,  101 ;  fore- 
sees scarcity,  103-106  ;  arrival  of  his 
family,  109  ;  honored,  115 ;  in  Antino- 
mian  Controversy,  116-124;  his  view 
of  providences,  127,  148,  149,  180,  182, 
187, 

Winthrop,  Professor  John,  296-298. 

Wiswall,  Rev.  Ichabod,  215. 

Witchcraft,  fasts  relating  to,  256-269. 

Wolcott,  Henry,  note-book  of,  136,  140, 
142, 144,  145. 

Wolcott,  Gov.  Oliver,  359. 

Wolcott,  Gov.  Oliver,  2d,  366,  367,  371, 
372,  376,  377. 

Yellow  fever,  186  n. 

Zodiacal  light,  190. 
Zurich,  30,  33,  34. 


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